new odessa, 1882-1887: united we stand, divided we fall
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Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses
10-1-1975
New Odessa, 1882-1887: United we stand, divided New Odessa, 1882-1887: United we stand, divided
we fall we fall
Helen E. Blumenthal Portland State University
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This thesis is a study start:!.ng w1th trie background
of Russian Jewry, the social climate in the United States
and particularly Oregon which allowed for the development
of communes, the story of New Odessa, and the 1~easons for
its disappearance.
New Odessa was unique in Oregon aa it was a Marxist
commune founded by Russian Jews. The portion of the ther.is
on New Odessa was based on original research: the studying
of p.sriodtcals of the time, original documents, and field
research in the geographical location.
The more accepted and prcductive New Odessa became,
the faster the disintegration. 'I'he geographlcal and cul
tural isolation of Oregon proved to be too great for the
members of the community, most of whom had been students
and urban residents in Russia. A difference in ideology
between the two leaders resulted in a gradual decline in
membership. By 1887, the community had been declared
bankrupt.
NEW ODE~jS.f;.j 1.882-1887
UNITED WE S'l1AND - DIVIDED WE FALL
by
HELEN E. BLUMENTHAL
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirer:ents for the de;;r.:e of
MASTER OF ARTS in
HISTORY
Portland StHt~ University 197~)
L/
l~lf .... , .. r ") "_) • · •'. .\. i..1 '·· .J •J
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAP11ER
I
II
III
IV
v
IU'rRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . RUSSIAN JEWRY - LAST HALF OF THE 19TH CEN'I1URY • • • • • • • • • • • •
AMERICAN UTOPIAN SOCIETIES • • • 0 I!# • •
NEW ODESSA "UNITED WE S'rAND -DIVIDED WE FALL" . • . • . . . SUCCESS OR FAILURE . . . . . . . . . . .
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . APPENDIX . . • • • • • • • 0 • • • • .,1 • •
PAGE
111
l
8
30
l~ 2
73
85
92
ACKNOWLEDGMEN:rs
Going back to college after twenty-eight years was a
difficult thing to do, but it was something I had always
wanted and after a few summer classes, I enrolled full
time. The pressures of daily living in rorm of family~
home, and community commitments continued on but added to
them were the conjugation of Hebrew verbs and the number
of coup d'etat in the Arab world.
If I wanted it badly enough, the only way to do it
was to get on with it. But, I needed t:t>emendous doses of
encouragement. My family always thought of my going back
to school as another one of "Mother's C:rusades," but thP.y
offered me unders-canding and compassion. My husband whom
I helped through Dental School many years ago, encouraged
me to accomplish that which I had set out to do. To all
my family, including my first grandson who waited to be
born until I had at least finished my B.A., I offer my
grateful appreciation.
My professors made me feel comfortable and were of
utmost compassion. Even the younger students offered en
couragement. To the members of' my conuni ttee I owe a special
note of thanks. Dcors were opened r~r me and while I knew
time could r;ot go backwards, I often ·tJondered what my J.ti'e
would have been like if I had had tho advantage of a eel-
lege education.
To Dr. Basil Dymytryshyn a special thanks for the
time he spent giving me a better understanding of Russian
history. To Dr. Michael Passi who opened the door on
Social History for me. He was my connection to the younger
generation and seeing him with the younger students and how
he instilled the idea of making them think, gives me hope
for the future. Rabbi Joshua. Stampfer proved to be a man
of exceptional patience in helping a non-linguist with the
study of Hebrew.
None of this would have been possible without the
help and understanding of Dr. Frederick Cox. His enthu-
siasm, concern, and interest saw me ever many a rough spot.
His desire to see me succeed made me feel I could and
would do it.
At a very low period, I received two grants, one
from the Oregon Historical Society and 0 .-,o ··~
from the Endow-·
ment Committee of the Jewish Welfare Federation. These
grants enabled me to do research in Roseburg but more im-
portant, they gave me the feeling that I was doing an
academically acceptable piece or research. I appreciate
their faith in me.
How does one thank the many people who have helped in
known and unknown ways? The clerk at the Douglas County
Courthouse who helped me search in a dusty basement for old
v
records. The young man at the Douglas County 'I'itle Company
beca..'Jle so :tnterested in what I wa5 doing that he spent his
own time going over survey and tltle records with me. Mr.
George Abdill of the Douglas County Museum let me spend
time going through his files. To all these, I 0ffer my
appreciation and gratitude.
Mr. and Mrs. Olger Sether have become f~iends of
mine. Mr. Sether's family owned the land on which New
Odessa had been located. He had recently been 111, but he
consented to talk with me and gave me a feel for rural
pioneer Oregon.
Unknowingly, my brother and sisters are also respon
sible fol" me going back to school. There had always been
great slbling rivalry between us and I was the only one
without an academic degree. I thank them for throwing down
an invisible gauntlet.
It's taken a long time from having been a pre-med
student in the days before wom~n's liberation to f1nally
fin:!.sh a.s a History Maj or. I offer· my deepest thanks to
family, professors, and friends who helped me to achieve
a belief in myself.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The American historian has many we.;ys in which to
approach the recording of the American experience. '11.radi
tionally, school children have been told of the heroic
deeds of the Founding Fathers, not understanding that this
was the story of a few members of an elitist class and not
a history of the American people.
In recent years, the disciplina of Social Histo~y
has begun to examine the vast entity of the Americans only
to realize that it 1s far from boing a unified society but
rather a pluralistic one that has evolved from all the vast
segments of the people that have gone into the making of
the Ar.ierican people. Each group of immigrants that Cc:t.'ne
brought with it :tts culture and historical and ;:~ocial val
ues,, a sense of identity that did not disappear when it
became part of the American heritage.
The era of greatest immigration beg:1.nn1ng in the
later half of the 19th century brought with it increasingly
varied groups. The social historian by putting hia empha
sis on the study of these d1sti.nct1\re characteristics, has
put new focus on the vast ma,jority of' the American people,
bringing to the study of American history a new dimension
and interpretation.
Every corner of this vast country has had its own
unique experiences, and it is the combination of all these
characteristics that have formed the personality of the
American people. The study of the Pilgrims and the Puri
tans, the Quakers, the Irish, the Blacks, the Jews has
really just begun. In add.1.tion, along the many highways
and byways, hidden away in forests and lost on vast tracts
of prairie lands, are stories yet to be told and verified
historically of individuals who also contributed to the
Amei"ican story by vir·tue or the fa<!t that they existed
at all.
This thesis is the story of' ()ne such group, hidden
awa.y deep within the forests of Southern Oregon near the
present town of Roseburg.
To find the site of New Odessaj one follows Inter
state 5 almost straight south from the city of Portland,
Oregon. In the manner of all modern super highways, I-5
skirts the centers of population, well banked and curved
2
to aid the driver in reaching his destination with the
least amount of exposure to r~ll that surrounds hirn. From
Portland, which has the largest population in the state, to
Salem which ranks second, and then on to Eugene it is pos
sible to drive without a stop, never looking beyond the
side of the road. I-5 may be the lifeline of the state,
but by its sterility and utilitarianism and identity with
all superhighways in whatever state they may be, it by
passes those very communities which helped give the Oregon
territory a significance and uniqi.J.eness in the settling of
the United States.
3
The motorist who is aware of the history of the area
finds familiarity in the cutoff signs marked Aurora and
Champoeg and Oregon City. The valley of the Willamette
river gives way to the valley of the Umpqua and the valley
of the Umpqua gives way in turn to the valley of the
Deschutes. The farther south one goes, the more the exit
signs read like a history book of the Oregon territory;
Elkton, Wolf Creek, Oakland, Canyonville and then Roseburg,
the seat of historical Douglas County. There is signifi
cance behind each name and each community has its place in
history.
Thirty miles south of Roseburg the road winds its
way th1"ough a mountain pass, the same route that the set
tlers of the urea took when there was no road, only a
trail for the dusty wagons and sore feet. The big heavily
loaded log trucl;:s struggled up the grade, where once
horses and oxen gasped for a breath of cool air coming
from the coast not too many miles awa:y on the other side of
the low coast mountains.
4
The exit sign marked Glendale suddenly appeared. Not
Utopia or New Odessa or even Julia, 1 its original name, but
Glendale. There, a sign pointing straight ahead, directly
into the foothills) reads "Glendale - 7 miles. 11 It is just
a few miles north of the Josephine county line, but lies
within present Douglas county.
The countryside is still rather desolate. There is
little traffic, there are a few houses, there are no build-
ings on either side of the narrow road. The sign "Tunnel
Road - left" appeared, and then the town of Glendale.
~1ere was a main street a few blocks long with only one
store open, a schoolhouse, and a deserted railroad station.
The tracks outside the station were in good repair and
obviously still in use. There was the ever present logging
mill, for this is timber country, with stacks of dry logs
being watered down because of the dry weathez• and high fire
danger.
Turning left on Tunnel road, there were a few small
houses. One or two side roads branch off of Tunnel Road.
At the end of' the pavement, a narrow dirt road continued
into a heavily wooded area, w!1ere it div1ded and beca.11e
more of a path. On a slight ri3e there was a clear:lng ai~d
below 1 a railroao. tunnel. Tuni:1el 8 near Cow Creek \)n the
1 ~The town presently called Glendale was originally
called Julia after the wife of an early settler.
railroad line to Medford is still being used by the lu.rnber
companies. Underneath some bru8h wer•e barely visible
~emains of a frame building. A.l"I .J..J. that was left were some
wooden markings along the perimeter but a few nails found
on the site place it in the time period of the 1880's.
5
From survey records, the site of New Odessa, was located on
this property. A colony of young Jewish intellectuals who
had taken a hard and lengthy route from Odessa, a seacoast
city in southern Russia, arrived in August of 1881 by rail,
by ship, by wagon, and by foot. They came to this corner
of southwest Oregon with no money but with high ideals to
start a Marxist commune which was to last from 1882-1887.
Tunnel 8 had been bu:J.lt by Chinese workeI's on property
belonging to the settlers and leased to the railroads, but
the wood for the ties and the fuel for the engines was
later supplied by the Jewish colonists.
Why did these particular people come to this particu-
la1" spot from a foreign country? What were tti~y looking
for in this alien land, surrounded by people who did not
look like them or talk like them or think like them and yet
accepted and helped them in the manner of the frontier?
There is a push-pull the01"'y in the hlstory of immi-
gration that states that not or.ly must the conditions of
tr1e native country be inhospitable to the individuals but
that there must be a host country able to provide the
6
conditions which are more sa.ti'.3 factory and allow i,h~ indi·
vidual greater opportt~nities materiali3tically, physically,
and spiritually.
Russia in the last quarter of the 19th century was
the seat of virulent anti-semitism. Life for the Jews was
harsh and many of them sought to leave or to find other
solutions to their problems. America in the same century
was the scene of great expansion:l.sm, conducive to Utopian
colonization which flourished here more readily than !.n any
other country of the time.
These two forces met head on. One result was the
establishment of New Odessa. To understand the philosophy
behind the colony, it is necessary to look at the forces at
work among 19th century Russian Jews; at the United States
during the same period of time which allowed for experi
mentation with Utopian societies; at the actual colony of
New Odessa; and into the reasons which caused its dis
appearance.
In terms of United States history or even the history
of the Pacific Northwest or Oregon or Douglas County, New
Odessa lasted just a short moment in time, but it was a
unique story that added one more piece to that kaleidoscope
which is the American people.
This is the history or the ninety or so people who
were at one time members of the New Odessa commune. It is
also the story of the Oregon territory whi.ch allowed them
to exist culturally and physically, to work and love and
dance, and then disappear into the American landscape.
7
CHAPTER II
RUSSIAN JEWRY - LAST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY
The laws of Russia make a residence in that country for the Jews pr~lor.ged agony, a life in death, a death in life.
One of the significant ingPcd:ients of Russian oiv:tli.-
zation from the days of the tsars to the days of the· USSR
has been the great m.L'11ber of national mino1•ities within
Russian society. The Jews have always b~en a minority
within the other minorities. In Poland, they lived among
the PolF.?s, in Lithuania among the Litlrnanians, in Estonia
arnong the Estonians. Even though minority groups have
always suffered discrimination within Russia, the Jews were
signalled out even further because among the minorities
they were the only ones without a territorial designation,
they spoke a different and distinguishing dialect, they
differed in their religious beliefs, and they often prac-
ticed occupations which differed from that of the general
population.
On August 16, 1772, Catherine II issued the f1rst of
m8JlY decrees which established a discriminatory Jewish
policy to be followed by the tsarist rulers until their
lFrom a speech by Congressman Samuel S. Cox, New Yorks May 21.i. 1880, printed .tn the Congr~ssional R~cord 13, App., p. 651.
overthrow in 1917. Catherine's decrees were t:he result of
the first partltion of' Poland in 1772, in which Russia
inherited 200, 000 Jews. The subsequent part ii.; ions in 1793
and 1795; adding the additional Polish-Lithuanian prov
inces, brought the nmnber· of Jews to 900, 000 •1 For the
9
first time the distinction was made between Jewish and mm-
Jewish subjects. The non-JewB were promised a continuation
of the rights enjoyed u.nder the former government through-
out the Russian empire. The area in which J·e·ws could claim
former privileges was specifically limited to the terI':ttory
in which they were living at th~ time of part1t1on. 2
The year of this decree, 1772,, is regarded by scme
historians as the yeal" of the official establishr.ient of the
Pal~: the area in which Jews were confi.ned to settlement.
Other historians date the Pale from 1791~ because the offi-
cial decree was issued that year. The Russian scholar
A. D. Gradovsky dates the Pale from 1769 when foreign Jews
were permitted to immigrate into Russia on the condit:ton
that they settle only in the New Russian provinces.3
1s.tmon M. Dubnow, H:tstorv of the Jews in Russia and Poland ( Phtladelphia: J·ewish Publicatlon-Sociefy-; 1916) , p. 30·1.
2Lou1s Greenberg, The Jews in Russia, 1 (New Haven: Yale Un:.tver.sit.y Press, 191flf),P:-T"as- translated from the Russi.an.
3rbid., p. 9.
10
By 1804, the Pale of Settlement was clearly defined.
It consisted of the Lithuanian provinces of Vilno, Grodno,
and Minsk; Vohlyn and Podolie in the southwest; V:itebsk and
Mogilev in White Russia. excluding the villages; Chern.1.gov'
a.nd Polta•;a minus the crown ha.inlets in Little Russia
(Ukraine); Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, Taurida, and Bessarabia
minus Nikolaev and Sevastopol in New Russia; the province
of Kiev minus the capitol; and the Baltic provinces,
present day Latvia and Estonia for old settlers only.
Rural settlements in the 50 verst (1 verst equals o.6629
mile) along the western frontier were to be closed to new-
comers on the grounds that along the bcrdern, they might
engage in smuggling. 1
Within the Pale, Jews we.Pe constantly on the move,
for even with the restrictions placed on them, their num~·
bers grew as did the entire population of Europe in the
19th century. By 1880, the Jewish population in Russia had
grown to four million fr'om one million in 1810 despite the
fact that by the later quarter of the 19th century, ever
one third of the .Tews of Eastern Europe emigrated from ? Russia.·-
In a decree issued August 26, 1827 Jews were made
liable for military se1"vlce and could be called up anytime
1 a1"eenberg 1 Th£_ .. Je!.f~___!_fLJ\u.ss:ta, 13 p. 11.
2Moses RJ.schin, ~~Promised _Q_ity (New York: Harper •rox-chbovks, 1970), PP~ 2Li-33o
11
between ages 12 and 25. Whereas the proportion of' Jewish
recruits was 10 per 1000, among the general population it
was 7 per 1000.
In 1835 the Pale of Settlement was redefined, 15
provinces in the wes1; and south a number of districts
excepted. Temporary permits were issued for othe~ parts of
Russia. Only certain Jews among the merchant class were
permitted to visit the capitols, seaports, and the fairs of
Nizhnil, Novogorod, and Kharkov. Jews were forbidden to
employ Christians as servants. The Russian language,
Polish, or German could be used for business but under no
circumstances the Hebrew language. 1
Jewish schools were set up by the government on
November 13, 1844. The Kahal (local Jewish government) was
abolished on December 19 of the same year and brought the
Jews under the same system of local government as the rest
of the population. The tax on kosher meat which had been
used by the kahal, was transferred to the provisional
authorities. 2
When Alexander II became tsar in 1856, the ~Tewz
hoped that some of the discrin1inatcry laws or the 18th and
early 19th centuries would be rescinded. Alexander II had
lHugh Seton-Watzon, The Russian Emph:tl 1801-1917 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967f, pp-: 273-74,
2 Ibid • , p • 27 4 •
instituted new reforms abolishing serfdom, granting of
local government, and court and militaroy reforms. For
these reforms he gained the title "'l1sar Liberator. 11 The
cantcnist sys tern which was vir·tuall:y life service in the
milj.tary was abolished August 26, 1856, the day that
Alexander II was crowned. 1
The Haskalah (enlightenment) movement among Jews
which had begun in the early part of the 19th century,
received new encouragement. The atmosphere of hope that
prevailed was welcomed by those Jews who felt that by re-
12
ceiv:1.ng a secular educat:lon and civic ema.ncipation, the
question of anti-semitisn would be solved.
The bomb that killed Alexander II ended an era that
might have seen a different social structure for the Rus-
sian people. The new tsar, Alexander IIIs had not been
trained to leadership and had been given a limited educa-
tion. He was described as "lacking !n mental keeness.li He
was su.re of his own imperial destiny and regarded himself
as appointed by God~ By natur·e, he wa.s against democratic
1During the reign of Nicholas I, Jews were first inducted into the military serv.1.ce. "The Statute of Conscription and N:tlitary Service of J\U,£:~1st 26, 1827" provided that in adcition to supplying racru1t~i for the army for twenty-five years, Jews had to provide military conscripts f1"om ages 12-25 > these juvenile conscripts were called "cantonists. 11
13
institutions and the death of his father at the hands of
l t 1 i .. th d - i t ti b . i ~ l revo u onar es s~reng one n s au ocra c eL e.s.
The reign of Alexander III W&$ one of militant reac-
tion. For Jews, it brought a reign of terror. Prior to
his rule there had been only sporadic pogroms (anti-Jewish
riots), all of which had occurred at Odessa, one in 1820,
another· in 1859, and the third in 1871. 2 Dur·ing the reign
of Alexander III, the pogrom became a regularly occurring
event until the fall of the monarchy in 1917. The attacks
upon Jews, although not dil'·ectly ordered by the central
government, were tolerated by it. The common pattern they
followed shows that they were not spontaneous but planned
and organized by some higher body. 3 The rioting usually
took place for several days before the government would
take the necessary action to stop them.
On April 15, 1881 in Kirovo (Elisa\Tetgrad) less than
a month after the assassi.nation of Alexande1~ II, a pogrom
took place which was allegedly organized by a gang sent for
this very purpose. When a drunken Russian was thrown out
of a Jewish owned inn, a mob that had been waiting nearby
raised the cry that the Jews were beating Russians and
they began attacking Jewish pedestrians. At this signal,
1Louis Greenberg, The Jews in Russia, 2 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951), Y• 1.
;:> ..... b.i;d - J. ... • ' p. 19.
3rbid.
Jewish Dtores were smashed and looted. The riots were
checked that night by the police, t;Jt the nei:t day they
were resumed with increased vigor ar~d '.<.'ith the police
remaining neutral. 1
In quick succession pogroms followed in Kiev (Sunday,
Apz•il 26, 1881), Odessa (May 3-5) and spread throughout the
country. The government waited several days until it
offered protection to the victims on the theory that the
anti-Jewish campaigns had been organized by revolutionary
agitators. The Tsar stated "that in the Cl"'iminal disorders
in the sou·th of Russia the Jews merely served as a pretext
and that it is the work of anarchists. 112 In a statement
issued· after a pogrom at Pereyaslav on June 30-July 1,
1881, the Jews were condemned because Christian blood wa.s
spilt.
The pogroms were used as a pretext to further limit
the economic and civil status of the Jews. Provisional
committees were organized by the government to review the
Jewish problem, with Jews being allowed to participate in
these committees which varied from 10-60 members. In
practices however·' the number of Jews serving on these com-
rnittees was very small for no cow.mittee except that of
Kovno had mo1"e than two Jewish delegates. While the mayors
"')
'Dubnow. Jews in Russia and Poland, p. 261. - -----... ··----·----------
of the chief' cities were invit~d to sit on the committees,
the mayor of Zhitomir was not in~lu6cd because his views
differed fro~ that cf the authori~ies. 1 As a result of
these practices, the Jewish point of view had little
effect.
The Central co1mnittee of the government assigned to
Jewish affai.rs recommended the complete revision of legls-
lation concerning the Jews. In order to calm the allegedly
aroused population, tempoi•ary measures were adopted. On
M~v 3, 1882 the government adopted the following Temporary
Rules often called the May Laws:
l. Non new Jewish settlers wei•e allowed in the villages or hamlets of the Pale.
2. Jews could not own or manage real estate or farms outside the ~1t1es of the Pale.
3. Jews were not allowed to do business on Sundays or other Christian holidays.
These Temporary Rules remained in effect until the Revolu
tion of 1917. 2
Tne effect of these laws was that many Jews found
themselves homeless. For example, a Jewlsh v:tllag~r re-
turning from a trip would be declared a new settler and
forever barred from hi.s home. Rural residents, who went to
the big cities to worship in the synagogues, were forced to
prove legal residence before they could return home.
lareenberg, The Jews 1n Russia, 2, p. 26.
2Ib id. , p ~ 30.
Moving from cme house to ~.not.her i:i the same village re
sulted in loss of residence rights. 1
16
Jewish employment opportuntties becc-..me limited. They
could not be employed, with rare exceptions> in any depart-
ment of government servic~s. The doors of educational
institutions within the Pale remained closed to the vast
majority. An official limitation of students in secondary
schools began on July l, 1887 and on July 10 it was ex
tended to the universities. The admission of Jewtsh stu-
dents to the schools wan dependent on the number of non-
Jewish students even in the areas populated predominately
with Jews. In the secondary schools the chances of admis-
sion were even sl1.mmer as a great portion of non-Jewish
parents did not believt:: in giving their children a sec-
ondary education, lessening the educational opportunities 2 for Jews.
These laws we1,e binding on the fifteen Russian prov~
inces in the Fale of Settlement~ but not in the Kingdom of
Poland. 'I1he laws ware inte1•preted with 1ncreas i.ng severity
and by the end of the 19th century, Jews in Russia had to
f n,ce the reality that their old way of life was being mod:t-
fied by Russian. law. The: Jews of Russia were forced to
lareenberg, The Jews in Russia, 2, p. 31.
2Ib1d., pp, 33-37.
1·7
change, but the question of su;"irival was paramount. The
problem brought different responses from vari.ous Jewish
communities.
At first the J'~ws resorted to traditional ways of
prayer and fasting. Public .fast days were held and special
services given in the synagogues. In Odessa, a city not
considered especially orthodox, when the cantor at a spe-
cial service gave the prayer
'All the nations reside on their land but Israel wanders the earth like a shadow finding no rest, receiving no brotherly welcome,' the sobb.1.ng of the men and women in the synagogue was heart rending.l
After it became obvious 'chat the life of the Jews was
impossible under the existing conditions, the Jewish com-
munity turned within itself to find alternate 1301.utj.ons for
survival. Even though there was a widespread belief that
Tsarist Russia was determined to rid itself of the Jews,
none of the various government commissions and cornrnittees
set up to deal with the Jewish question ever proposed
e:tpulsion 01 .. emigration as a possible solution. The state-
ments made by high ranking officials expressing the wish
that the country might be freed of Jews were never trans-
lated into official policy or legislation. The mass
exodus of Jews across the western ~orders of Russia from
1880-1914 was in response to the pleas and initiatives of
the Jews themselves. 1
18
Gradually four plans began to evolve: one, assim1la-
tion aud acceptance of Christian1.ty; two, revolutionary
change, not just among the Jews, but as a part of modifying
the structure of the existing Russian government; three,
seculai-•1zat:l.on of Jewish society (Haskalah); four, emigra-
tion primarily to Palestine (political Zionism) or to the
United States.
'11he fourth solution, emigration, is the plan which
the Jews who founded New Odessa adopted combined with a.
zeal of revolutionary ldealism. 'l'his idealism) however,
was not intended to apply to Oregon society in general but
only to the Jewish i.mmigrants. They had no desire to
change the whole of society but only their epecific group.
'.!'he Or~gon group believed the United States was large
enough for them to isolate themselves and organize the:tr
own social structure.
To understand the motivation of the Ne1'1 Odessa emi-
grants, the other alternatives to survival must also be
understood.
lttans Rogger, 11 Tsartst Policy on Je\dsh Emigration·' 11
Soviet Jewish Af::~t:t.~-~' Vol. 3, No. 1, 1973, p. 26.
19
Assimilation is rather salf-e~planatory. The govern-
ment had consistently maintained tha~ they were against the
Jews only because they were not Christians. Therefore, if
the Jews lost their identity as a religion it should follow
that there would no longer be a Jewish problem. In prac-
tice "of all the religious and racial minorities in Russia,
the Jews were the only ones whose merger with the Russians
was a prerequisite for civil equality."1 Jews may have
changed their religion but their nationality was consider~d
to be Jewish and so in reality they could not be assimi-
lated legally.
Among the Jewish intelligentsia, the.t•e was a strong
strain of Russian nationalism. The generation of Jews
living in the mid-nineteenth century became interested in
the socialist and nationalist movements. These were the
parents cf the students of the late 19th century. As a
result, the young people had grown up in an atmosphere and
a home life that was conducive to interest and discuasio11
of these movements. After the outbreak cf the pogroms :tn
1881, they saw that self-defern:a:: was a matter of personal
survival. Their retu1~n to J11daism was ppompted more as a
national rather than a religious sentiment. These were the
young people who bt.~c&me intcres ted in Ha::skalah which
20
stressed secular rather than religious ed~cation. 1 It is
impossible to determine the number of Jei·m that success-
fully converted as even today in the USSR, Jews are classi-
fied as a nationality as well as a religion.
Among the early revolutionaries there were surpt•is-
ingl.y few Jews. The secret anti-government activism whif,;h
had begun during the relgn of Alexander II came about by
the refusal of the Tsar to grant a constitutional regime~
and his failure to solve t:i1e land needs of the peasantry.
Among all the heterogeneous groups within Russia, the Jews
were most loyal to the ,government of Alexander II because
of the minor reforms he instituted to help their economic
and legal status and his abolition of the cruel ant1-
semi tic laws of Ni.chula::J II. 2
Few Jews were active in the early revolutionary move-
ments. Within the Pale, there was a tradition of absti-
nence from political affairs and of obedience to author•ity.
The first socia15.!i:it activity among Jews was the:i.r ir..volve-
ment in the Narodnik (Agraria~ Pcpulint) movement, begun by
young intellectuals who would attempt to demonstrate kin-
ship and work side by side with the peasants in the fields.
The idea of the mir --' the 19th century attempt at Russian
la . reenoerg, The Jews in RussJ-a;; 2, p. 161.
2Greenberg, 'I'he ,Tews in Russ;ia, 1, p. l lf 6.
21
communal living became the ideal for the young Russian
revolutionary, non-Jew as well as Jew. The agrarian popu-
lation was narrowly nativist and outbreaks of anti-semitism l among the peasants frequently occu1 .. red.
With the growth of a Jewish student body in the
1870's there was increased contact between the Jewish and
Russian intelligentsia. The students were concerned ~s
Russians with the plight of the Russian people and not as
Jews interested in Jewish rights. They maintained that the
emancipation of the Jew would take place with the emancipa-
tion of the masses. Paul Akselrod, an eminent revolution-
a:ry who happened to be Jewish, dedicated himself to the 2 redemption of the poor and humble people of Russia.
By th~ early 70's, Jews were participating in every
phase of revolutionary activities. They took seriously the
slogan of the revolution "Go to the people!".3 They left
homes and car~ers to live and work among the people.
The nurr.ber of earl:Y Jewish terrorists was small.
Aron Gobet of Vilno was the first Jew to be executed for
his act;ivities. He died in 1879 when his plot to assassi-
nate Alexand~r II was discovered. Women students were
lHoward M. Sacharj The CourRe of Modern Jewish His to...t.>: ( Clevel~nd: World Press, -1958T, pp-. 28Y:Slr:-
2 Greenberg, The Jews in Russia, lJ p. 148.
22
among the most active revolutionar•ies. A Jewish woman;
Bessie Helfman, received a sentence to hard labor and died
in the for-tress of Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka. 1
Jews worked in the organizational phases of revolu-
tionary activities. They also served as intermedlari.cs
between Russian and Western s"cialism as many Jewish stu-
dents being denied a university education in Russia, went
to schools in Germany and Switzerland, where they made con-·
tact with other student revolutionaries. Intellectually
emancipated, these Jewish youths emerged among the leader
ship in the revolutionary movements in Russia in the two
decades before World War I. 2
Unfortunately, the Jewish revolutionaries whose aim
was to solve the Jewish problem, complicated the situation
by giving the government a specific group on which to focus
its anti-revolutionary hatreds and activities.
It became obvious that Jewish Russification did not
provide zocial a~d civil equality for the Jews. With an
increase in anti-Jewish activities, there was a definite
trend towards the belief that only by emigration could the
Jew hope to survive. ,Jewish leadership was divided on
whether or not to support mass emigraticn. The upper Jew~
ish bourgeoise was afraid that any attempt to organize or
lareenberg, The Jews in Rm:;1:31a, 1, p. 151. _______ , ... -~--
2Riscl11n, ~rEmised C~tz, p. 42.
23
encourage emigration would be considered unpatriotic. The
majority felt that mass exodus would only increase the
pogroms and undermine the struggle for emancipation. There
was, however, a growing minority that did favor leaving
Russia, including Dl'. Max Mandels trom of Kie1t, who wrote:
Either we get civil rights or we emigrate. Our human dignity is being trampled on, our wives and daughters are being dishonored, we are looted and pillaged. Either we get decent human righ~s or else let us go where our eyes may lead us.~
Without any specific Jewish or government pressure,
after the pogroms of 1881, a spontaneous emigration began
to take place. Thousands of Jews fled over the borders
without funds or passports) and were often stranded in
European cities, or formed large Jewish communities in
border towns such as Brody on the Austrian border. 2
As the Jewish people began to organize and collect
pennies to aid 1n mass migrations, two countries emerged as
the centers of refuge) Palestine, then under Ottoman con-
trol, and the United States. The United States because of
economic opportunities and vast underdeveloped areas;
Palestine because of the nationalistic feelings developing
through the newly organized Zionist movement and its his-
torical and religious significance.
lareenberg, The Jews 1n Russia, 2, p. 62.
2The name Brody has become part of the Yiddish language, synonymous vd.th legal red tape.
24
The question then follows~ dof.;s .Tudaism and the Jew-
ish way of life have a chance of s urv.t ~.ral in any land
other than that associated with nationalistic aspirations
or historical memories?
The Zionists believed that the histor·y of Europe had
shown the spread of anti-semitism from one country to
another, across the continent from Spain in the 15th cen-
tury as far as Russia. Would Jews ever be safe in a land
which was not a Jewish homeland? The political Zionists
believed not.
The Zionist movement attracted leaders who had tried
other courses of action only to find they were not effec-
tive in solving the Jewish problem. Moses Leb Lilienblu.m
who had in his earlier years followed Haskalah, advanced
a1~guments which have become classic in Zionist ideology.
He believed that all emig1•ation efforts should be directed
towa1"ds Palestine because "we need a corner of our own, we
need Palestine, we need a real centre there ••• we need
energy and activity. 111
Because of the difficulties imposed against the Jews
by the Turkish government w!1ich controlled Palestine a.s
well as the small absorptive capacity of the country in the
1880's, the actual numbers of those leav:tng for Palestine
was negligiblt?. Organizations such as Hobebe Zion (Lovers --·~---
lareenberg, The Jews in Russi~, 2, p. 68.
of Zion) were formed in many of' the large cities to train
and organize chalutzJ_.!!l_ ( p:ltmeers) •1
25
The mainstreru-:i of' emigration was directed to·:11ards the
United States, the promised land, where the Jews believed
gold paved the streets and all men had equal opportunities,
where "all men were regarded ae human beings." The number
of Jews emigrating to the United States from Ru.s:sia. in the .,
years 1881-1890 totaled 135,003.'
Among young intellectuals, there were those who
idealized the freedom of the soil. It should be remembered
that according to the Tempo1'ary Rules, no Jews were allowed
to own land outside the cities and the towns. Except for
limited subsistence farming for family consumption or trade
of products within the community, the number of Jews en-
gaged in agriculture was limited. The opinion was held by
some, that if Jews were allowed to engage successfully in
pursuits other than trade or commerce, one of the deep
roots of anti-semitism would disappear. The stigma of
"money lender 11 and "merchant" would no longer be all inclu-
sive and Jews would again become an agricultural people as
in Biblical days.
Arnong th~ eroups desiring to pursue farm1ng, the.re
were those who wanted to go to Palestine and those who felt
loreemberg, The Jews 1n Hussi~, 2, p. 7 8.
2 Ibid., p. 73.
26
America would be a better choice. Inep:lred by Hobebe Zion 1
a group called BILU from the initials of the Hebrew words
meaning "House of Jacob, let us go," combined Marxist zeal
with Jewish nationalism and in 1882 with a total treasury
of a few hundred rubles, der·arted for Palestine. The
BILUim found labor in the hot desert combined with malaria
more than a challenge to their idealism. Though they
lasted as a group only a short period of time, they were
the forerunners of the First Aliyah (wave of inunigration)
into Palestine which founded the early agricultural
settlements. 1
Paralleling this movement to Palestine was a group
called· Am Ola."ll (eternal people} which had begun f1rst a$ a
self-defense organization in the city of Odessa. The city
of Odessa was the home of many of the early nationalist
movements. In the early 19th century, it had been the city
for the movement towards Greek nationalism. Because of its
geographice.l location on the Black Sea, it was an important
center for trade and commerce. This allowed for contact
and exchange of ideas between peoples who had come from
many countries and brought with them new and developing
:ldeas.
The Jews of Odessa were not particularly l"eligious
and there was no rabbinical college in the city.
lsa.char, The Cou1"se of Modern Jewish Historz, p. 268.
27
Therefore, they were more open to the· acceptance of new and
different ideas than Jews who lived in a ~ore orthodox
atmosphere.
In 1881, Moshe Herder and Monye Bokal founded the
movement. Initially, after the decision to emigrate was
made, they could not decide wheth~r to go to Palestine or
to the United States but eventually came to settle in
America, establishing cooperative colonies in the spirit of
Robert Owen and Charles Fou1"ier with a touch of Leo
Tolstoy. 1
The primary ideological difference between Am Olam
and BILU was that Am Olam regarded tf:.e Jewish problem as
essentially socio-economic and political and not cultural
and national. The leaders in America remainect the same
Russianized intellectuals t:hey had been in thf~ir former
home.
The name, Am Olai11, and its emblem of a plow and the
Ten Commandm<~nts was ind1cat1 ve of' the movement's character
and pu~pose. The plow symbolized the agricultural pursuits
and the Commandments its Jewish identification and moral
standards. The diary of one of its members expressed their
philosophy
... ~Greenberg, The Je~-~--_1~ Russia, 2, p. 166.
'Our motto is labor in the fields, and our goal is the physical and spiritual rejuvination of our people. In free America, \·!here people o.f' va:t~iou$ national:tties live in amity, we Jewl? too shall find a corner in which to rest our• heads. We shall prove to the world that we are qualified for physical labor. ,i
28
The leaders of Am Olam who crune frcm the revolut:ion-
a.ry ranks, stressed not only agricultural work, but in-
sisted that colonies in the United States be established O"' ••
Marxist principles, modeled on the Russian mir rather than
on private property. The predominant motive was socialist
with the movement being closer to Russian radicalism and ?
Russian culture than to Judaism.~
New Odessa in Oregon became the goal for a very small
number of Jews who elected to come to A.-ner:Lca, interested
not in settling in the big cities and established Jewish
communities, but in applying prjnciples of socialism to
agricultural pursuits and living style in a hidden corner
of the Pacific Northwest. Numerically, New Odessa was
never very large. At its height it uumbered atout 90 per-
sons. It was small in comparison to t11e va.s t numbers of
Jews coming to the United Stat.es in 'the last quarter of
the 19th century.
1 As t:r•ans lated fx•om the Hussian in Greenberg, 'I'he Jews l.?}_Ru~sia, 2, Pe 166.
2areenberg,, ~·he_Je\'!S in.Russia, 2, p. 167.
The ideology of New Odesna reached beyond its geo
graphical borders. When the colony broke up in 1887, ita
membership dispersed throughout the country, and each in
his own way made some alight L~pact on the totality of
what is called American Judaism.
29
CHAPTER III
AMERICAN UTOPIAN SOCIETIES
The concept of utopian society is not unique to the
present American generation. Ever since man first organiz
ed attempts to reach fulfillment of humanitarian dreams 1
people have endeavored to establj.sh ideal communities. The
roots of utopian thought go deep into religion, both
eastern and western; into the rational philosophy of
Plato's ~e_Eublic; into Frourier, Saint Simon, and Comte;
into Marxism and other various systems of socialism.
America in the 19th century was a country of great
optimism, firm in the belief of its "manifest destiny."
Vast areas of land had been opened with the Louisiana pur
chase and the do()r to immigration was wide open. The va.st
areas of uninhabited land offered room for experj_mentation
with alternate living styles. America had been founded on
rel:!.gious utopian ide·als and by the 19th century over 1000
various concepts of ut.:ip:ian communities ha.d been ectab-
11shed. New Odessa was one of these.
The word "utopia 11 is taken from Thomas Moore's worlc
by that. name. It transl.ates literally into the word
"nowhere." '..Phe concept of this definition is that nowhere
on earth is the1 .. e a perfect society. Man's quest for such
a society led him to dre~n of a heaven on earth. Since
man's dreams are not llinited by what is possible, utopian
societies a1•e planned by the drea."Ilers A
1
Fourier, Owen, and Saint Simon believed that ideal
societies could be created by moral persuas:ton. To .Marx
31
and Engels, the word utopian was a term of derision. Marx-
ist radicals agreed w.ith the earlier utopian thinkers that
a new social order must be created for such societies to
exist. The Marxist believed, however, that the bourgeoise
society must disappear before a "new man" could exist. All
utopian thought was similar in that it was against the
"status quo. 112
A broade1" definition of utopia is given by the soci
ologist Rosabeth Moss Kanter who has written extensively on
the subject:
The imaginary society in which humankind's deepest yearnings, noblest dreams, and highest aspirations come to fulfillment, where all physical, social~ and spiritual forces work together, in harmony, to permit the attainment of everything people find necessary and desirable.3
Religion is not the only impetus for the utopian
dream. Com .. 111unitarian colonies have been based on
lRon E. Roberts., The New Cormnunes (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1971), p:-e-;---
2 Ibid., p. 9 • .., ..)Rosabeth Moss Kunter, Conm;j.tm.snt and Community
{Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973), p. i:--
32
politico-economic or psychosocial philosophies as well, or
there may be a ccmbination of all tllree. 1 If one accepts
these principles, then it 1s possible to conceive of the
origins of America as being based on principles of Chris
tian religious utopias. As early as 1680, the Labadiots, a
group of Protestant mysti.cs settled in Northern Maryland.
On the basis of communal land ownership, Plymouth Bay
Colony started as a joint stock company in which all prof
its and benefits were to be held in conunon for at least
seven years. 2
Not all utopian communities are necessarily communes.
Plato's ideal Republic described an agrarian society. He
placed emphasis on voluntary poverty or asceticism. Small
size was also considered a criteria for Plato's Republic.
Communes share many utopian ideals but they may be imple-
mented in two different ways. The idea of utopia combines
a hope for a better world and a refuge from the complex-
itiea of established scciety. There is a negation and re-
jection of conventional life for which is substituted an
affirmation of a new way. 3
lKanter, Commitp,ent and Community, p. 3.
2John Fiske, Thtl Beg~nniryy;s of Ne!!. Eng1?-f!.<! (Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin> lSS-9), pp. 86-100.
3Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Communes - Creating and ~~n-~$ing th1~; _.9ollective Lii'e_ (New York: Harper and Row, 197jJ, p.--if:
A commune ls a voluntary, value-based, cormnunal
social order.
A commune seeks self determination, often making its own laws and refusing to obey some of the larger laws of the larger society. It is identifiable as an entity haviP..g bot,h ph~rsical and BOcial boundaries •••. Its primary end is an existence that matches its ideals •••• These ideals gi vc rise to the key ccmrnunal ai?''angeme::1t, the sharing of resources and finances.
America, was a haven fer nv.merous religious communi-
33
ties in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Shaker
community led by Mother Ann Lee of England was founded in
1787. The Hutterian Br•ethren (founded in Germany in 1530
and since 1873 in the United States) has today 150 communi
ties and 17,000 members. 2
As population moved westward across the plains to the
Pacific coast, new areas of the country were opened for
settlement. The Oregon territory was the site of the
Aurora colony rounded by William Keil. This was basically
a Christian religious commune populated by people of
German descent. Keil emphasized separateness and rejected
the dogmas and hierarchj.es of the established churches. He
found the fronti.er welcomed him with his 11 'no title but
Christian• and 'no rules but the Bible.'"3
lxanter, Cornmitment and Communi t:'[_, p. 2.
2rtid., PP. 3-4.
3rb1d., p. 4.
The religiotrn communal movement co!1tinued to flourish
in the early part of the 19tl1 century, reaching its heights
in the 1840's. As mobility increased and people moved from
the farm to the town and city in response to increased
industrialization of American society, a small socialist
commune movement began to develop, hoping to bring a bu.man-
izing factor to the dehumanization of the 1nd1vidual
brought about by urban living. Horn.ce Greeley, whost: ideas
influenced many of the utopian experiments of the 18li0 's,
believed "there should be no paupers and no surplus labor
• • • only in unity cc:n a solution be found for the prob-·
lems of labor. 111
The impetus for politico-economic communities had
come originally from abroad, from the thoughts of Robert
OWen in England or from Cha1•les Fou1~1er and Etienne Cabet
in France. '11he ideas may have been foreign but Americans
seemed willing to accept various life styles within their
midst and if they did not accept their doctrines them-
selves, they allowed these movements room in which to
experiment and develop. New Hal'•mony (1825-1827) was based
on OWenite ideas~ Over forty utopian communes based en
Fourier's. doctrines of association were established in the
decade of the 40's. The North American Phalanx (181./3-1856)
lKanter, Com .. 111:1.tment and Community:, p. 5.
and the Wisconsin Phalanx (1844-1850) We::"e probabl:ir the
best known and most successful. The Icarian oommLmltles
based on Cabet's novel Y~L~~n IQ.!!rie lasted from 1848-
1898.1
John Humphrey Noyes, a radical graduate of Yale
Theological Seminary from Putney, Vermont, attempted to
combine religion, reforr.i, and political idealism in
founding the community of Oneida in New York in 1848. In
the words of the Oneida song:
We have built us a dome On our beautiful plantation~ And we all have one hvmc
2 And one family :relation.
Oneida was based on an eccnom'.1.c communism, cornmtma.l
living, "complex marriage" or free love, communal child
rearing, and government by mutual self criticiam. The
35
community generally maintained a good relationship with its
neighbors. However, there was much controversy over the
sexual practices within the communityj and partly because
of outside pressures and partly from soree within the commu-
nity in terms of personal di.ssatis!'action, the Oneida com-
munity dissol~1ed into the Oneida joint stock company in
1881.3
1Kanter, Commitment and Communit~, pp. 6-7.
2Mark Halloway, Heavens on Eart~ (London: Turnstile Press, 1951), p. 179, as quoted from the Oneida song.
3Kanter,, Comtni tment and Co~l}If~n:U~_.Y.., p. 18.
36
Some of the ideas which were initiated at On:eida
had an effect on the structure of the corrimun1:~s which fol-
lowed. There was usually a charismatic leader as the in-
stigator. At Oneida, it was John Noyes. While some of the
sexual practices may have been modified J the family s ti-•uc-
ture in most communitarian communities varied from that of
the general societies. The idea of mutual self criticism
took hold and became one of the characteristics identifying
a commune. The division of labor at Oneida was well
organized and all who were physically able "worked." Mem-
bers had only a minimum of private property and the earning
of money for subsistence was a function of the entire com-
muni ty. Oneida rnay not ha~1e been the "Kingdcim of Heaven 0n
Earth" that its founder intended it to be, but it was a
peculiarly American type of commune which became a proto
type for many that followed. 1
'l'he waves of religious awakenings which occux•red
thl"'ough the 19th century 1.n America, tended to give to
Amerl<~ans the philosophy that this was a land of "new be-
ginnlngs." 'l1he national consciousness was based on the
idea of America as a land of manifest destiny~ destined by
God to be the site of a new and better world.
1Pierrepont .Noyes, My Father's House: _An Onelda. 5ovhood (New York: Farrar and Reinhart, 1937}, no specific pages bnt a first hand account of the Oneida conununity.
37
The 19th century communes developed basic principles
concerning their organization. As the old ones either dis
solved or evolved into other forms of social organization,
there developed ce1•tain common characteristics within com
munal living. These criteria are not only applicable to
the early communes, but persist until today wherever they
may be or whatever they are called. The Bruderhof of Ger
many, the Shinkyo of Japan, and the Israeli Kibbutztm by
virtue of their being communes have similar characteris
tics. Variations may certainly occur, but basically the
principles and theories remain the same.
Dr. Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Brandeis University an.d
Harvard Graduate School, has written extensively on the
communal movements. Her book Com.7!1i tment and C~:>nmiuni tl_ ha:~
been invaluable in studying the communal movements of both
today and yesterday. Her criteria of definition as well as
her distinction between successful and unsuccessful com
munes is the basis for determining the effect of New
Odessa. The following criteria are based on her work in
Commitment and Communit~. 1
Common to all communes is an idealization of communal
life. Primary to th:ts belief is the concept of human per
fectibility. Societies and not people are the cause of
tensions. In a small isolated environment, small scale
lKanter, Commltm_en.t and Community_, pp. 32-57.
controlled societies can be org~nized to create the perfect
society and therefore the perfect human being. The reli
gious communes thought of tht: perfect society as Heaven,
Eastern myst:tcs as higher incarna.tlon, and socialists as
the next step in human evolution. Confession and self
criticism were means of achievtng aelf improvement. Mutual
c11 i tic ism becmne an im!JOrtant pa;>t: of a "pex•fect 11 society.
The utopian community is well organized in contrast
to the disarray of the larger society. The chaos of the
unplanned life style is replaced by a predicted society
which follows a predictable pattern. Planning extends to
all aspects of conununal life--eating, sleeping, praying,
loving,· working--centr•ally coordinated by group leadership.
A third important feature of utopian communal belief
is that of brotherhood. If societies can be brought into
harmony with natural laws, then people can be brought into
harmony with one another. Some of the names of the 19th
century communes included the word "harmony" as part of
thei1, names, for example, "Harmony Society of Harmony,
Pennsylvania 11 and "New Harmony, Indiana." It is from this
concept that the lctea of shared ownership of all property
evolved. Private property was abolished and goods equally
distributed. Work as well as property was shared, in some
communities jobs were rotated with each person assigned
daily or weekly tasks. Finally, the emphasis on brother
hood and harmony led to f'ocusing relations with:tn the
39
group so that eating, sle1~p1ng,, and education became ehared
living experiences. All men and women were considered as
brothers and sisters within a single fa.mily unit.
There was a sense of experimentation within the 19th
century communes which is still characterlstlc of communes
today. Many communities tried new forms of dress and
appearance for women such as shorter dresses and hair
styles. The shocking style of the blo•:>rner was first worn
at Oneida and was as outrageous a costume then as the
hippie styles coming out of today's communes. Since a
commune is a small social 3tructure it serves as a social
laboratory in which new ideas ferment a:id develop.
Return to the land is often associated with conuntmal
ideology but not necessary to its structure. Agricultural
pursuits, however, offer the best way to fulfill a number
of utopian ideals. The return to a simple life and an un
complicated means of livelihood with more tasks that re
quire unskilled labor and therefore offer work for more
people including children, including the necessity of a
com..rnunal effort in periods such as harvest time, all foster
the feeling of brothe1•hood and family.
"Pcrf'ectibility > order, brotherhood, merging of mind
and body, experimentation, and the uniqueness of community"
were the ideals which ge.ve the communes the:i.r identity.
40
'l'hcse were the dreamt:. The practical rea.lizationf'J often
forced the changing of these dr•eams in c:Pder to face harsh
reality.
As the "push" against Jews residing in Russia reached
new severity-> the second part of' the "push-pull theo:i.•y" of
emigration was being filled by tho general acceptance of
immigration to the United States.
The second part of the "push-pull 11 theo1~y of emigra-
tion worked in America. America in the 19th centui•y was
psychologically and physically able to accept a Jewish
Commune just as it had accepted. and modified those men-
tioned as well as numerous others.
While the majority of' Russian Jewish immigrants set
tled in the large eastern cities, there gradually extended
across the country other Jewish cor.ununities as well as a
handful of Jews who were interested in agriculture. 1 Fore-
most among these were the youthful students who were among
the members of Am Olam from Odessa, Russia.
Efforts were made at Calcasieu Parish, Sicily Island,
Louisiana; at Crimieux, South Dakota; and Cotopaxi, Colo-
rado. For various reasons these g:Poups lasted a very short
time. The island in Loui.s :tana was investc:!d with malaria
carrying mosquitoes and the colon.ists becarne ill and
"i ... The writer's grandfather was an early farmer in the
state of Wisconsin. He had come to this country f!'om Kishnev) Russi.a, in order to escape nervic.e 1.n the army o:i:' the tsar.
41
disbanded within a year. In other instanc0s, the climate
was too harsh and the soil unproductive~ New Odessa lasted
from 1882-1887 and while net successful :!.n :reference to the
length of its existence, it was the longest lived of the
colonies of JI.Ji! Olam. Abraham Menes wrote,
Established by the first Odessa group of Am Oylam, New Odessa in Oregon was more successful than its sister colonies. 'rhis colony had more socialist than a nationalistic goal. In all probability, it had the best human material for the purpose.l
lAbraham Menes, 11 The Am Oylam Movement," YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science, Vol. 4, 1949, p. 28.
CHAPTER IV
NEW ODESSA
"UNITED WE STAND - DIVIDED WE PALL"
By the California. [a shipl arrived a colony of Russian Jews from Odessa, consisting of 28 rnen and some half dozen women. They have rented a building back of East Portland, where they are located for the present. The men are mostly young, only 2 or 3 being married. Several of them are well educated and a1"e drugis ts, angtnee:r~, etc. by profession. 'rhey are in comfortable circumstances and it is thei~ express intention to secure a t1,act of land and settle in a hody as tillers of the so11.l
was the above article announcing the ar-riYal in Portland of
a handful of young Russian Jewish immigrants who would be
involved in a unique agricultural and social experiment.
The fa.r corner of the Pacific Northwes·t was not the
most likely place to find a group of Russian Jewish intel-
lectuals in flight from the per3ecutions of Alexander III.
However, fi-•om 1882-1887. the com.1mne cf New Odessa,. 250
miles south of Portland, Oregon, near the present day town
of Glendale in Douglas County, was the site of this experi-
ment. Withtn those five years, the colony enjoyed relative
prosperity and unity, followed by disunity f'rom w:lthin and
calamity from without, and finally ended 1n disillusionrnent~
and bankruptcy. This is the stOl"Y of New Odessa, whose
motto "United We Stand, Divided We Fall"l proved to be all
too prophetic.
The first members of Am Olam left Odessa, Russia and
arrived ln New York :1.n January, 1882. There were 65 p~ople
ln that group who had traveled together f1•om Russia by way
of Austria and Germany. They had crossed the bo:rder at
Brody 2 a town on the Russian-Austrian border which l1acl
become a stopping place and a clearing house for the thou-
sands of Jews leaving Russia. ~ne Jews would cross the
border illegally and would have to remain in the town until
either an organization or an individual would assume re-
sponsibility for them. The merr..bers of Am Olam were met by
representatives of Alliance Israelite Universialle, an or-
ganization founded in France to aid Jews once they had left
Russia.. 2
In May, 1882 an additional 400 members of Am Ola'll
left Brody. Among these was Leon Swett who eventually ar-
rived in Portland, Oregon. In a letter which Theodore
Swett, Leonis son, wrote some years later to Abraham Cahan,
lThe mo1~to oi' the commune as written in a letter from a commune mf~r:i.ber and transJ.ated in an article by Abrc.h&m Mene~1, "The Am Oylam Movement," YIVO llrmual of Jewish ~g_ci~l _S~ie.n_c:_~, Vol. 4, 1914 9, p. -29. ·
2Gabriel Davidson and Edward A. Goodwin, 11 A Unique AgricultJ..t:r.aJ. Colony," '.£he R~t'lex, May, 1928, p. l.
edttor of the Jew~sr~ily FoF..;ard, he described his
father's journey:
They took the train from Brody to Hamburg .••• My father Leon Swett was treasurer of' the Group of 400. It was his responsibility to handle all moneys. Fl'om the day we [Theodore was born in Russia before hi.s fam:U.y emigrated J left Odessa to the day 011r ship landed in New York, my rather as treazurer concealed its gold in 2 money belts, leather, strapped around his body. He was always well guarded. At night my mother wa.s always awake when my father elept. On the last day of our voyage on the sh5.p; all money and goods were distr:tbuted share. and share allke to all members of the group.1
Two additional groups followed within a month.
Among these were those who elected to come to Oregon.
Ninety per cent of them were former students at Russian
universities.
New York City had become the destination for thou-
sands of Jews fleeing from Eastern Europe. The already
established Jewish population of New York had their origins
in Western Europe and had come after the revolutions of
181!8 or were descendants of Sephardic Jews who had come
early in the colonization of America. The established
ll\t'3S, Letter from Theodore Swett Collection, Oregon Historical Societ:y. Prom 'l'heodore Swett to Abraham Cahan, editor of the Jewish Dailv Forward, June 16, 1942. Conversatlcm w:tth nr:wffliara Sweit, -··13"ortland, ~ grandson of' Leon indicated there is a questio~ as to whether Leon actually visited the sita of New Odessa. After arriving in Portland., he decided not to joln the colony as he w:is married and had 3 small children and felt that moving to the commune wou1.d be a ha:('<iship on his family. Instead, he obtained a homestead near Buxton, Cr~gon and farmed there until his death.
~· -
Jewish comi~unity had found a good life in this country and
did not look favorably upon Jews from the isolated
11 shtet1 111 of Eastern Europe with his quaint ways and cus
toms.
The American Jew:tsh community had been warned that
among this new emigration of Jews, Am Olam in particular,
there were young Jewish radicals with different political
views and liberal attitudes in 2~eligious observation.
Letters had actually been sent to Jewish leaders in America
from indivj.duals who were worki.ng with the emigr•ants in
Europe, warning of these trouble makers who would undoubt-".)
edly work against the status quo.~
Among these leaders were two remarkable men who even
though they did not necessarily agree with this new 1de-
ology, were in great sympathy with any movement of service
to the Jewish people. Michael Heilprin, an author and
, scholar, already well advanced in years, became their
staunch friend, advisor, and consultant. He devoted his
tirue, often at the expense of his physical well being, to
seek financial aid and other support for their under-
takings. Associated with him was Dr. Julius Goldman, a
1 11shtet1 11 is the Yiddish word for the J~wish small town of Eaistern Europe. l."'or a d1~f'ini ti ve study, see Zborowski and Herzog) Life Is __ J:l:.tt:h f'eople (New York: Int.ernaticnal University Press, 1952). An anthropological study of th~ "shtetl."
2nav1dson and Goodwin) Refle~, p. 2.
young lawyer, who frequently neglected his C>Wn profession
to give aid to the newly arrived. :!rnmigr-ants.1
On November 30, 1883, Mr. Heilprin wrote a letter
describing the Jei1isl1 agricultur,R1 movement :i.n America to
Oscar Straus~ of the newly organ:l.z~d Baron de H:lrs0h fund
which had been founded in England to aid Jews particularly
interested in agriculture. Ifi an appeal for funds, Mr.
Heilprin described the efforts being made by the members
of Am Olam:
The whole of this movement, for- self'-regenera-· tion, to which old degradation, disappoint~d hope of deliverance through freedom in the fatherlana, and a barbarous persecution have given rise, is an entirely novel, a magnificent phenomenon in the history of modern Judaism. By streng~hening and fomenting th.is movement grand. r1~~sults can yet be achieved. And is it not a duty, is it not commanded by the saJ.d clrcums tances oi' t:·w time 3
which has witnessed such a terrible revival of medievalism, to make a vigorous effort to foster the good which so unexpectedly springs from a source of evil? And does not our Republic offer the best and broadest field for such efforts of ...., Jewish philanthropy and foresight?~
Mr. Heilprin continued to aid in many ways. It was
through his business association with Henry Villard, a.
prime developer of western railways and transportation,
loavidson and Goodwin, Reflex, p, 2.
2MSS Letter from Michael He1lprin to Oscar Strauss, November 30, 1883. Baron de Hil'sch Collaction, Amex·:ican .Jewish Histor:l.cal Society, Waltha~'TI, Mass.
47
that the decision was made to settle at the site cf New
Odessa.l
The members of Am Olam established headquarters in
New Ycrk in a house on Pell Street calling it the "Com-
mune.!I Still wearing the Russlan ::>tudent's uniform of b1ue
blouse:J and caps, they set about establi::;hing a. ccmmuni.::,
e.xperimentlng with communal living in the heart of New
York's teeming East side. Being without practical trades
or even a basic knowledge of agriculture, they set out to
learn jobs that would. be useful to them, not only because
of the financial necessity, but to gain practical experi-.... c:: ence.
They did not confine their efforts to the New York
area but went wherever the;,.' might gai.n valuable knowledge
and ~xperience. One young man, fer example, went to Vin-
cennesJ Indiana. He was offered positions within the city
but surprised the local Jewish community by not accepting
them'· He f:tnally found a job on a neighborhood i'arm and
worked for eight dollars a month. While these workers were
in places away frorn NeN York, t;hey held th ems elves in
readiness to return as soon ~s ~h~y we~e re~dy to s~t ~P
thi::-ir own enterprise. An example of trie strong communal
2Moses Rischin, The Prorni~ed Citz (New York: Harper Tor·chbooks, 1970), p. r50:·--~--
48
feelings heJ.d by these immigrants was that when the cal1
cai'1'1e to thf: young ma.n from Indiana where he had worked onl:l
four or five months, even though he was without funds, he
left immediately making his way back to New York by walking 1 and hitching rides on passing wagons.
Not knowlng what heayy labor they might have to do on
a farm, they accepted all kinds of manual jobs. Some went
to Boston as longshoremen while others worked on railroads
rapidly being constructed across the country. Meantime,
between 50 and 60 people remained in the house on Pell
Street. They lived a communal life, dividing the household
tasks and pooling their financlal resources. Educational
meetings were held at night where they learned English,
discussed philosophy, and made plans for their future
colony. Michael Heilprin was their constant advisor. 2
Two scouting parties were sent to d:l.ffe~ent parts of
the country to lool<: fer possible sites. One group went to
Texas 3nd the Mid-west. The scouts worked for three months
on farms in each area to test out the climatic conditions
and the prospects in the area. They found the land in
~exas and Kancaa too arid and the heat depressing. The
other group went to Oregon and Washington. After looking
1Da.vidson and Goodwin~ Befl~x, p. 3.
2Ih1d. ' p. 3.
over several possibilities, they ~dcommended a section of
land cornpr:tsing 760 acres near Glendale, Oregon. Host o!"
it was forest with about 150 ~cre3 cleared and suitable for
cultivation. There were two modest houses on the property.
The cost was $4800. Two thousand dollars was needed for
the first payment. Through the personal solicitation of
Heilprin, the fu11ount was ra:lsed among interested New York
Jsws. 1
The Gl~ndale site was probably suggested by Villard.
He had become a close personal friend of Heilprin as well
as a business associate. Villard had recently taken ovf:;r
the bankrupt Oregon and California Railroad. 1.rhe Glendale
site was traversed by the new extension which was being
built by O and C from Rosebur·g to Ashland. ft.rriving late
in the surnrner, the colonists would not have an opportun:t ty
to plant the first year. Food, however, was available in
the forests and streams. :i':n addition, by working for the
railroad, selling them timber for ties and fuel, they
would hai,.re an income that would make them self' supporting.
It was at this time that the Chineae began to work in the
area on the railroads and there is zome question as to
whether the colonist:'3 actually workE:d en the . const:r·uction
or ,just in the suppl.yi,ng of lttmber. 2
1Da.vidson and Goodwin, Heflex, p. 3.
2Ibid.
50
Through the :lntercession of Villard who also had :1n-
terests in a steamship company~ transportation was ar~anged
at $20 per person for the entire trip. In July, 1882,
twenty-five members of Am Ola.m left Nt':W York by steamer
bound for Colon, Panama, cros &ed the is -cffinu.s on fO\'.l'\; and
wagon, boarded yet another f:teamcr f'or Sar1 I'r:m-:!lsco, and
changed to yet anothc:::r coastal steamer• dest:tned for Port-
land. Eight or ten set out for Glendale as soon as they
arrived in Portland. They went by wagon and foot and 250
m:f.les later: south of' Po:::-,tland, on 760 acres of land lo-
cated east of Glendalt;, extendlng from Windy Creek nouth
across Cow Creek and over the ridge to Wolf Creek, a
cooperative colony destine<.! to be ~alled "New Odessa"
finally sank its roots. 1
In general these non-conformist youths found ac-
ceptance in the area. By this time, Douglas Courrty had
several prominent Jewish families. ..rust as in the East,
the first Jews to arr:i.ve in th0 Northwest were nainly tho13e
who had come from Western Europe. Some of them> pa:r·ticu-
larly the merchants had worked their way up the coast from
San Francisco after the California gold rush. The ~1
Olam.ites were accept":d by both the non-.Jewish corriJnt.<nit.;.y and
the resident Jew1.sh group ln Douglas County. The Am Olam·
ites wePe of' particular· interest not only because of* thelr
1Record3 at Douglas County Title Company, Roseburg, Oref~on.
51
religion but because they were Russians and had adopted
many Russian customs. There was plenty of land and the
people settled in the area wc~e helpful with their advice,
particularly in agriculture, a knowledge that t.he Jews were
sadly lacking,. The colony uf ~ew C1essa b•:!came a. meeting
place for the community and the neighbore would gather•
there to Join in the singing and dancing which the colo-
nists dearly loved, A party at the commune became a spe
cial neighborhood occasion. 1
The original property of New Odessa was purchased by
Samuel Krimont from Hyman Wollenberg ~na his wife Julia. 2
Records at the Douglas County Title Company record this
sale on March 8, 1883. Further .r•eco1"ds show a bill of sale
dated October 29) 1884 in wh1Gh said property was mort-
gaged at 8% per anum by Peter Fireman, Moses Frie (Pree),
and Abraham Headman acting in the name of the corporation
of New Odesr;a.3
The archives of the Department of Com.merce of the
State of Oregon possess the original articles of
1nav:i.dson and Goodwin, ~fl?_~, p. 3.
2rr.he tm·m ot.' Glendale was ortginally called Julia aftc1~ Mrs, Wollenberg. The name changed when the Wolh;;n.berg famD.y mo;~Gd the:Lr residence fx•o'ti Canyonv:ille, 7 mile:;; . north and the county seat at that time. When the county seat was later moved to R0scburg, some 30 miles distance, the Wollenberg fanily moved again.
3necorda at Douglas County Title Company, Roseburgt 01•egon.
52
incorDoration of New Odessa. Dated "first of December in
the :year of our Lord one thousand. and eight hundreds and
eiEY11ty three," it clearly stat.es the a:f.ms and purposes of
the organization. Included are the following articles
which express the voluntary membership within the corpora-
tion:
! . All members of said society do hereby \•oJ.-~ untarily associat~ themsel7es under the name and style of New Odessa communl t:y.
2. The object cf said corpor·1tioo is Mutual assistance in pe:Pf't~cting and jevelopmsnt of physical, mental, and moral capacities of its members.
3. Said corporation has no caiiitol stock and no shares. The money and l<?_ho:':" voluntarily offered by the members shall nevAr te credited for the individual benefits of donators, nor claimed back by withdra.wi::1g me!TI.bers but used only to prc·mote the obj e::;; t: he:t•e:l.n ~p0cified.. The es timated value of tbs goods, chatt0ls, land ~ights and credits owned by th0 said cor(>oration at present is five thouaand dollars.~
The articles are followed by a legal description of
the property 1 signed by Peter Fireman, president; Moses
Free (Frie), secretary; and Abraham Headman, treasurer.
The notary public who witnessed and signi:;td this document
was Solomon Abra.ham, a Jew who had exten~lv-e holdings in
real estate in the area and was a well known merchant
active in local politico. He not only signed his name to
1Articles of Incorporation, Business Archives, Departm~:nt of Co:m,;nerce cf the State of Or·egon, Corporat:!.on Division., Salem, Ores;on. New Odessa Comr.i.unltY1 #3308.
the document in h1s offlcial capacity, but supported the
colonists in their endeavors.
By 1882, the Jewish population in Portland was large
enough to support two religious congregaticins. '11he city
nor its Jewish population held n~i enticements for these
youths who were interested in an alternate lif'e style.
There had been a sizeable and viable Jewish community in
Jacksonville as early as the 1860's, encouraged to come
during the boom years of the Oregon gold rush. The Jews of
Jacksonville had closer kinah~p ties ·to San Francisco than
to Portland. By the time the seat of Josephine county and
the railroad had been located in Medford and the gold rush
disappeared, the Jewish community of Jacksonville had de-
cl1ned in strength and numbers. Between. Portland and San
Francisco ther~ were scattered Jewish families but no
strong .Jewish community. Of thor:h-1 Jews 11 ving ir1 tl1e area
adjacent to Glendale, Samuel and Asher Marke had come from
Poland in 1852-1853; Hyman Wollenberg had come to Oregon
about 1860; Isidor and Simon Caro came from Colmer, Germany
nettling fir~t in Jacksonville, then going to Ashland, and
finally settling in Roseburg. There was no rabbi between
Portland and San Francisco.1
1George Abd::tll, "New Odessa," 32.t~ Ump_g_ua Trapper, Vol. 1, No. 4, Winter 1965, p. 12.
54
Why 'l':hen did the mffmb~-n·~ cf Am Olam seek to lsolate
themsc~lves from formali:::ed Judaism by sett~Ung in such a
remote area? It must; be remembered tha-t these young people
were Jews only by virtue of having been identified as ouch
by the Russian eovernment and whatever familial ties t:hey
maintained. They spoke main.ly Russian and be~ause of' their
socialist ideals they professed to no religio11. They made
a habit of staying away from all organized relig.1.on of
whatever domination. They hoped to prove that :l.n a com.mu
ni.stic cmnmunity without traditional rellgious affiliation
and with the Tolstoyan tradition of return to Mother Earth,
the problems which had haunted Jews over the aenturies
would cease to exist.
By the spring of 1883, there were between 40 and 50
people 1:1.ving in the colony. An additions.l frame building
had been added to the two already standing. On the lower
floor there was a ld.tchen, dirdng room, and an assembly
hall. Th? ·t:pper story was for s leeptng quarters. In one
large room, wh~re with the exc~ption or two or three
couples, all members slept. The beclst~ads were made of
beards nailed togethu.'1'.' and placed ln :rows on the long side
of the room under the eavee with a rough table in the
center of the room for writing.
In that first spring, the crops planted were wheat,
oats, peas, beans~ and a variety of vegetables for their
own use. An additional 40 or 50 acres of ground was
cleared and broken in the first two years, making a total
1 of 200 cultivable acres.
55
The forests proved to be the major source of income.
In the rccor"ds of the Gardiner Mill cf Glendale, there is
an entry made in 1882 of money paid to the colonist;s of New
Odessa.2 During the fi~st two years, 4,000 cords of wood
were sold to the railroad company. Between $'7 ! 000 nnd
$8,000 was realized in this way and an additional $1,000
was paid on the land contract. The wood was uaed by the
Oregon and Pacific railroad for fuel and for ties, used in
laying track for the railroad which traversed the property.
The O and C offered the colonists an 2dditional contract
for more ties which would have necessitated the building of
a sawmill. There is a difference of opinion as to why
negotiations failed. One, building a mill would have meant
additional funds which were difficult to raise. Two, the
colonists decided by open discussion and concensus not to
commit themselves for a spec~.fied numbt::l" of y0aru by
having a written contract.3
The rajlroad had progressed a8 far as Glendale on Cc~
Creek 265 miles from Portland by May, 1883. An unknown
loavidson and Goodwin$ H~fleY~, p. 4.
2Records of the Gardiner Mill Employees, 1882, Doue;J.as County Museum~ Eoseburg> Oregon.
? JDav.tdson and, Goodwin, Hefl~, p. 4.
56
writer wrote in a regional publication of taking a trip to
Oregon and described this particular countrys:tde:
Having traversed the greater part of the Pacific slope f'rom Los AngGles to the Columbia river and from· the Pacific oeean to the Ro\'::.ky mountains, I can safely assert that no where can be found so equable and pleasant a climate, such a1versity of scenery and production, mar~ richness of soil or beauty_
1 of' landscape than can be seen on thio
route .....
Tunnel 8 on Cow Creek was completed in t:he summer of 1884
and celebrated by a picnir.~ at New Odessa which was attended ')
by neighbors from the surround1.ng farms.'
Life on the commune in the early days was austere but
harmonious. An itinet•ant farm worker, a non-Jew, worked
there for an enth"e year and comment\'.?d on the remar!cable
quality of these young people, who never quarreled, we:t>e
constantly cheer·ful, permeated w.i.th idealism and who
"labored to save the worlo. 11 3
Their fundamental philosophy was Marxist, "each man
works according to his ab:U1.ty, e·ach man receives act::ordlng
to his needs. 11 TherE! were fixed hours of labor and assign-
ed tasko not only on the farm and in the forest, but also
in the kitchen and in the house. 1rhe men and women shai."ed
all the tasks, field and house. As stated in their Art1-
cles of Incorporation, New Odessa had been organized as a
lThe -~~st Shore, Vol. 8, No. 10, October 1882, p. 184.
2navid~on and Goodwin, Refl5:.~' P~ 5.
3rbid.
57
voluntary com.rrnmity for t:hE: baR:ts anc purpose of mutual
assistance in the perfection of and development of physi-
cal, mental, and moral capacities of all its members, mak-
ing no differentiation between men and women.
The average age of the original settlers was very
young. At the t;ime of ti1e signing of the Articles of
Incorporation, the president, Peter Fireman was 20, Moses
:ti,ree (Frie) the secretary was 22, and the treasurer Abraham
Headr:1an was 23. Among the original members arriving in
Portland, there were 28 men and 6 'Immen. The exact number
of the o:Piginal group variea with the account but it is
known that the men were mostly young and single. 1
Under the leadership of the officers of the corpora-
tion and the idealism of Paul Kaplau who jolned them 1n.
1883, the community of' New Odessa made a sincere and rel&-
tively successful actempt at a communitarian experience.
On~ of the most derisive and conflicting influences
in the history of the con1nn.rn.ity, was th(~ ideology and
effect of a non-Jew, William Frey, who actually was never
listed as a member of the co:1rmu:11. t;y but 11 ved there by ,
"personal invitation. ;i :B'rey mu~ a pol:l.tical emigre who bud
at o:w time been an officer in the Russian army and had
tary Academy in St. Petersburg. He was a religious
58
pc•s 1 t:l vi st · .. r110 believed in the religion of Humanity as pro-
PL~ed by the French philosopher Agu3te Comte. During the
J.870's he had attempted to establish several Religion of
Humanity communes in Kansas.
When the Kansas colonies failed, Frey :returned to New
York. Be1.!ause of his knowledge of Russian, he began work-
ing with the newly arrived Russian immigrants. While in-
volved in this work, he met with th.e members of the Com-
mune on Pell street. The residents cf the Commune were
impressed with his philosophy but he was not hopeful of
their ideals as a. basis for a successful community. He
felt they were too nihilistic and unfitted for the tasks
they had set for themselves to establish an agr•iculturF:i.l
community. However, he was willing to help then. He
thought that if they failed in their experiment, they would
be more willing to follow his leadershlp and build on th•.:'!
basis of a common religious faith. In the meantime, by
association with them, he tried to influence them to ac
cept his philosophy. 1
In 1882}' Frey came to Oregon as one of the advance
scouts. He was still, however, reluctant to join the
group. He warned them that he would be dtfftcult to work
with. He had definite ideas and was not lcnown to
1 ,1vraham Yarmolinsky, A Ri}nsian' s American Dream (LawrF:D(!e, Ka.nsas: Uni vers i t;;:,1--·c;f'fi.11sa~-:Fress-:-I 9·6'5), pp. 99·~100.
59
compromise. Being harsh with h5mself, he said, he tended
to be harsh with others. He felt mo.re lilce a judge than a
teacheJ'.'. One of' Frey rs ~J..1t:E..3 \·r:.i:s the value vf a complex
family structu1~e in which all mer.lbct•s wculd become Brothen~~
and Sinter::;-, by which the p.ractice of zex would not be c~1n-·
fined to conventional marriage p3ttr~r.m;. This did not mee.n
that he believed in promi~cuity~ but rather that individ
uals could have more than one marriage partmn~ cs part of
an extended family. He himself had a complicated marriage
situation, with a legal wife whom he had married in Europe
and another• woman also listed on the census as his wife,
having two children. In March, 1883, William Frey, 45,
Ma1'usia (Mary) Frey) 36, Lydia Frey~ 33, and three children
cs.me to live at New Odessa b:f the request and consent of
1 ts mer11bers • 1
Frey and the two women, Marusia and Lydia, were the
only people over the age of 30 listed on the census of the
community. '11hc r.ext oldest was .Joseph Korvitt recorded as
being 27 in the census of August, 1884. Frey had been re
luctant to go to New Odessa becauze of his previous fail
ures and the self knowledge that he was an uncompromising
individual. To the youths of the colony, however, he was
someone to look up to, the charismatic leader found neces
sary in many early cornr.n.mes. He had been exiled because of
60
h1s strong political belief~ and ooul.d be looked to as a
man of strong convict1on. H~ had evolved a!'ld lived wlth a
philosophy which they felt would be compatible with their
ideas. They felt that his age and experience would be of
great help to them. His Religion of Humanity, ascetic
ideals, and striking personality deeply impressed tht~m. He
spoke Russian and wa.s a friendly voice in a.lien surround-
ings. He convinced thsm that they were pioneers in a true
social experiment.
At the time the Fre;-y- family caree to live at New
Odessa, the community consisted 1:.f 36 males~ four cf them
married, seven females~ and four• children. By the end of
the year, the numbe:i." had ~.ncreased to 60 members and. had
achieved a semblance of economic stability. With the , coming of Frey, a new regimen was established ....
In addition to routine chore~, the colonists studied
mathemati.cs under F1•e.f and English under Marusia and L;y·dia.
The day started at 6 o 'ci0ck w!th chores tmti1 8: 30.
Breakfast was from 6:30 through 9:45. Back to work at
10:00 a.rn. until ~:00 p.m. There was n0 break for lunch as
Frey believed in only two rih:al:~ F.\ day, Between 4 and 5
o'clock dinner was served followed by a rest period and
t.hen on to intellectual pm~suits. Monday,. Tuesday, '1'hurz-
day, and ?r•:tday evenings we:r.e spent studying mo.themat ic3,
1.Abraluun Menes~ 111rhe Am OyJ.am Movement~ 1' pp. 30~· 31.
61
English, and lectures by ~rey on the philosophy of Positiv-
1sm. Current matters were diDcussed on Wednesday and on
Saturday they discussed the problems of the commun1.ty.
This description was taken from a le';;ter from one of the
colonists and continues:
On Sunday we risf..~ at sJ.x o'clock and immediately a lively discussion begins on the subject of equal rights for women. In the beginning the women had demanded full equal rights. They had gone to work in the forest, with the men taking their turn in the kitchen and laundry. Soon, however, the women realized that they were not yet fit for that type of work and returned to their previous tasks. Now they assure us that th~y have acquired the necessary physical strengt.h and endurance for work in the forest • • • • Thus the time passes till breakfast. This meal consists of rice, oatmeal, baked and r;;.w applf~s, beans, potatoes, bread and milk .•.• ~fter breakfast, one member goes to survey the far.rr~, anoth~r reads the newspaper or a book, the rest shout, sing, and dance. At four o'clock dinner is served. Two men wash the dishes, the choir sings, the organ plays •••• At seven o'clock the evening begins a session of mutual ~riticism; then the work for the week is assigned.l
Since the majority of the members had been university
students, their diversions remained mainly intellectual.
The chief nightly entertainment was to gather in the assem-
bly hall to discuss, argue, and debate. In addition to the
study of mathematics and EnglishJ one night a week was
spent in self cr•iticd.sm at wh!ch they wel'e encouraged to
pass .iudgment on one another and suggest ways in which to
lM-n-s , .. c lj , "The fu.1! Oylam Movement, 11 p. 31.
62
improv0 the community. Their pr:1ze p0ss0ssion was an
extensive library devoted chiefly to books on philcsophy. 1
A simple pleasure that the com..'llu.ne members did manage
to find time for and enjoy, was wuaic. Even doing the most
difficult tasks, the men and women would join in the sing-
ing, mostly Russian folk songs and songs of their student
days. In the early days, having no inst.rmnents, they
would dance to their own singing. Although they knew a.nd
danced Russian dances, their favorite became the American
style quadrille. They later received a small organ and
!•'IH:i'.''..:sia Frey, an accomp.l:!.shed mus iciar:.; would play for
them. They would. give da.nces and invite the ueighboring
farmers_ and settl.ers. In this otherwlse isolated front:tr~r
town, the neighbors would come eagerly and join in the
festivities. As social happenings were so rare in frontier
times, the settlers would often come from great d.istances. 2
Frey continued to preach his Relig:ton of Humanity.
He never lost an opportunj.ty to instill the Positivist note
into the discussion hours. The Sunday discussions gradu-
ally turned into religious services. Marusia played hymns
on her crgt.n and the lectures turned into sermons. New
Year's Day 1884, was celebrated as a F·estival of Humanity.
"I
... George Abdill, 11 New Odessa," The 2™1:!& Tr•apper, Vol. 2, No. l, Spring 1966, p. 16.
2 8 Ibid., p. 1 •
11 The semitic x•ace," concluded Prey, 1111aving given the world
three great religions, was now r~ady to give the world the
faith of the t·uture, the Religion of Humanity. nl
Although the land proved to be fruitful and the food
in the fore~t.s and streams was plentiful, the colonists
subsisted on a maager diet. Frey was a vegetar•ian and not
only would. hA. no;; eat meat, but refu~H~d to s1 t at the table
with anyone who did. The theory of life of these comrnuni-
tarians forbade them tc gorse themselves when there were
millions of suffering and hungry people in the world. The
daily food budget which they allowed themselves by 1882
prices was 5¢ per day per person and anything over 8¢ per
day was felt to be extravagant. The total daily expense
per person was figured to be 15¢. A visitor to New Odessa
wrote:
Frey's idea of happiness is to eat two meals a day of crackers and raw fruit, to touch no kind of stimulant, to do all work between meals to be free to study, the evenings in his community to be devoted to study and moral and social evaluation in which all should join.2
In. 1884, Fre~r drafted "An Agreement" which was to be
signed by all members which dedicated them to the "achieve-
ment, at least within the limits of the association of the
lyarmol insky, Rusnlan' s Amcl"ican Dream, p. 103. '")
t:.!b1d., p. 105.
6 ll 1 '
pr.inciples of al truism~ self perfect ion, ccirrunon property,
and moral coope~aticn that eventually will have to be prac
ticed by all men. 111
He prepared a talk 1n 1884 which he delivered to the
neighbors of the &ettlement for the purpose of acquainting
them with its character and aim. He explained the com-
mune's renunciation of all personal property. They had
come not to make money but to t-;hare as "~ommun:tsts,
pioneers in a social exper~.ment." He assured the audience
that the colonists abhorred sexual promiscuity and that
they respected if did not practice monogamic marriage. He
specifically used the word respected and not accepted.
Frey wrote to a co-religionist in 1884 that New
Odessa had become the scene of a miracle through the intro-
ducticn of a religion that enabled the members to create a
true commune. This was a biased outlook as by no means all
the members enbraced his religious beliefs. Out of defer-
ence to Frey, those who respected him paid lip service to
him. 'rhe more revolutionary under the leadership of Pau1
Kaplan, were actively against it. During discussions when
Frey would take over, Kaplan, a small dark man would sit
grinnin~ at him and staring with da~k penetrating eyes.
Those few who regretted the absence of religion, felt that
lnavidson and Goodwln ~ Reflex_, p. 4.
if any religion was to be observed, it should be Judaism.
The first seeds of dizcontent had been so~n.l
A happy occasio~, a wedding, was described in much
65
detail in the December 1885 issue of the Overland Monthly.
It was called a 11 Wedd1.ng Among tne Comrnun1stlc! Jews of
Oregon." The unknown author was more interested in the
fact that the community was Russlan and that the membe1~s
were communists rather than Jews. This attitude was re~·
flective of the feeling toward religion in Oregon. America
was considered large enough to accomrnodate members of many
religions. The curiosity was diracted towards the unknown
customs of the Russians and the fact that these members
were avowed communists, someth:tng rare and different on the
American frontier. By getting to know these gentle youths,
however, their neighbors accepted them as long as they did
not try to impose their ideas of government on ethers.
The wedding described wa3 between two of the early
colonists, Anutta Glantz and Selig Rosenbluth. There is no
document of the wedding as the Douglas county marriage
records do not go back that far. According to a son Robert
Owen Ro2enbluth, who had been born after his parents left
New Odessa, there was one brother born on July 28, 1883
while they still lived in th.e community. There is no ot:her
evidence that the wedding took place before Frey had come
lyarmolinsky, Russian's P~erican Crea~, p. 105. ----- ··-----
66
to live there, so it pro~ably took place in the early days
of the comm;,inity. There is no reco1•d en the census of Au
gust 18814 of either the br·ide or groom and it is known
that; they were among the first to leave.
The bridegroom had been smuggled out of Russia in
the bottom of a wagon load of hay. He had been a veteri
nary student in Russia. After coming to America, he had
worked on a farm in Pennsylvania to gain experience in
agriculture. It is not known exactly when he joined the
community. Communal law decreed t:hat a man must serve as a
cook on Sunday and it was Rosenbluth's lot to be assigned
to the kitchen on his wedding day. The colonists were
strict about keeping to their schedules and he could not
change his duties. The women of the community voluntarily
offered to £1.~~ him prepare the wedding feast. Rosenbluth
was not a vegetarian and so in the morning he shot a rabbit
and coolced :1.t as a ragout for the dinner. In honor of the
occasion, pie was also on the menu, and the initials of the
bride and groom decorated the crust of each pie.
Wild flowers were woven into wreaths to be worn by
both the bride and the groom. The bride was a dark haired,
dar·k eyed e:tghteen year old. Sbe wore a close fltting
black dress without any ornamentation. Whe:i she finished
dressing, she tied a thick Russian towel embroidered with
red silk on as an apron and went into the kitchen and baked
more pie:;;.
67
The Brothers and Sisters gathered at 6 o'clock, two
hours later than usual 1 i.n the dining room, and vrhen all
were present the bride and groom entered. After prolonged
embracing by all members in a "Russian 11 and "J'ewish 11 man-
ner, they had what for them was an enormous meal. At the
end of the dinner, eve1~yone helped in doing the dishes and
cl.earing up. The entire assembly went upsta:Lrs where the
hall had been decorated with flowers and gref.m leaves.
There was a service in English followed by a ball. A table
was placed at one end o!' the room and decorated with
wreaths and cand.lesticlrn. The bridal pair seated them-
selves on a bench behind the table.
A member of the community, it is not known who, an-
nounced that he would marry the couple. He began to recite
poetry in English:
What dajr is it: ds.1"'k or fair? Brings its future joy or care? What ray this morn broke through the night? Did the ray herald black or white?l
The poem was lengthy but after the reader finished
there was no further ceremony and the festivities began.
The waltz, the polka, and particularly the quadrille were
danced to the num0ers being called in Russian.
'I'he new couple r.et·Lr·ed qulte early to a crude cr-.bln
which had been assigned to them. Tile ball continued
lunknown writer) "A WedcUng Among tht1 Commtmistic Jews in Oregc.n, 11 Oygr.l_§:~ Mqn..:~.b_±y, SeJ:>ies 2 ~ Vol. 6, D0 ce"1b""1 ~ i)Or:.; D ~
.. .:1 ..:o!i t ~~ !.. =- .L 0 U .J, ~ • 01.. ~· ;
68
through the night. 1"11'.'"le writer of the article a\':oke 1.n the
morning after having retired late, only to find that the
festivities were still continuing with a final repast in
the k1tchen. 1
1l1he colony prospered and was relatively harmon:tou2
for about two years. At its height j it had a population of'
65. Two of the four single women became wives of male
members. Other male members looked !'or wives i.n Portland
and the surrou!lding areas. One colonist died of unknown
causes and was buried on the colony'~ property but the
gravestone has never been found. 2
The lack of privacy was especially trying to the
married .couples and the s!ngle men found the lack of young
unmarried women to be a difficult and unnatural situaticm,
One of the members complained that there were comrades who
confused communism with eating from the :::iame plate and
sleeping in the same bedroom.
In early 1884 the membership began to polarize around
the leaders Paul Kapla.n and William Frey. Kaplan, one of
the fcum1.e:;.•s cf the commu.ni ty) wa:::- a radical conmnmis t in
complete oppositicn to Frey's concern with raligion. Frey,
true to his own s~l..f evalnation, would not compromise with
his princ1pl~9. The exact date of his leaving is not known
1The information about the wedding comes from the article in Oyer];_?.!}.d Motu;h1y.s pp. 606-11.
2 Abdill, The Umps@~. Trapper, Vol. 2, p. 18.
but he is still list0d as of August: 180~ and it is est1-
mated that he stayed about a total of two years. Frey and
about 15 members elected to leave the community of New
Odessa by 1885, For a few months they remained in the area
trying to farm, but lack or capital hindered them and they
1•etu:rned to New York. Marusia retui-•ned to New Yorlc wt th
Frey, but Lydia, who was referred to in the colony as his
sJ.ster-in-law, remained behind with her child and married
one of the members. The marriage ceremony was conducted by ,
Frey before he left.•
Among the colonies established in the United Sta.'tes
by Am Olam, New Odessa proved to last the longest, and be
the most successful. Dr. Judah Wechsler, a rabbi of St.
Paul) Minnesota, who had been instr•umental in establish~.ng
the colony at Painted Wood, North Dakota, visited New
Odessa ln its early days and expressed his admiration.
The colonists are the most intelligent Russian immigrants I have encountered. rrhey ax•e men and women who have attended a university or a similar institut:ion of learninh in Russia. . . • Whereas
- - -1
1.n 0 1.tr colon~· ~ f alritcd Wood J there is dis cord to this very day, here [Now Odessa1 all live in
2 peace, and the will of one is the will of all.
He wcs amazed to see the large well-organized li~rary and
hear all the members participate in discussions on differ-
ent problems. Dr. Wechsler did not approv-e of all aspl~cts
') '"-Menes, "1l'he Am Oylam Movement~ 11 p. 32.
70
of the community, however. He was aga:l..r.Gt its com.munlst
principles and was shocked at the absence of all Jewish
observance. He felt that the isolation from a center of
Jewish population would prove to be detrimental.
Frey's leaving did not solve the disunity in the
colony. Shortly after he left, there was a fire in the
community building and the treasured library was coffipletely
destroyed. Marxism was practiced even more rigorously, but
the idealism had begun to wear off. Ambitious and ideolog~
ically orientated members worked harder, but others shirked
their responsibilities. As long as they worked, income was
not a problem. 1 Additional payments in the amount of $ 3:;00
had been paid on the original mo~tgage, but there was an
catstanding balance of $2,276.2
The members of New Odessa were well thought of in the
outside communities and the mortgagee did not threaten to
foreclose. On the contrary, Sim~n Krimont was willing to
extend payment for an additional 15 years. Local Jewish
merchants and some from 3J3 far away as Portland, offered to
extend credit to them as an inducement to stay. The neigh-
boring farmers had been impressad with the idealism and the
...
.... 'bdi., 1 .11. • "'°"'-' The UmDOU? Tra_R~er, Vol. 2, p. 19 •
2Foreclosure records, Douglas County Courthouse, Roseburgs Oregon.
71
spirit of the original group, and continued to offer them ,
the use of equipment which the colony did not possess.~
Members began to leave singly and in groups afte:r• the
departure or Frey and the property began to fall into
neglect. Olger Sether, a present resident of Glendale now
in his 80's, whose family had purcha;;ed the property on
which the colony stood, recalled coming to the Glendale
area as a boy. None of th'-~ members had remained in th>?
area but he remembered tc.llcing tc some of the older resi-
dents of Glendale. As a boy, he loved to hear stories of
New Odessa. In a conversation with him, he told of how the
members were first respected but after 1885 when the group
had split into two, '!;hey were remembered primar·ily for
lying around ell dhy, sleeping$ reading, and discussing. 2
On March 16, 1887 action was instituted by R. s.
Bean, Circuit Court Judge of the Second Judicial District
of Ox•egon statim:~ "Defendants non-resj.dent and cannot be
found - suit made upon tl1e defendants. :i On October 18,
1887 a bankruptcy suit was filed in the Circuit Court of
Douglas County by S. Marks and H. Wollenberg vs. Simon
Krimont, Peter Ii'irermn, Moses Prel (Free) and Abraham
Headman, trustees of the~ New Odessa Community.3 The:
1Abdi11, The Um.r_g_}la Trapper, Vol. 2, p. 20.
2Personal conversation with Olger Sether, July, 1973.
3Records at the Circuit Court of Douglas County, Roseburg~ Oregon, Basement Box 56.
72
Roseburg Revi§:~i duly ca:i.""':r.ied thE: public notices of the
foreclosure but there was no word heard from the defendunts
or their representatives. Foreclosure proceedings were re-
corded in February, 1888 and the lands of New Odessa were
returned to the original holders. It was not until
December 31, 191!5 by B.ction of the Corporation Commission
of the State of Oregon that the community of New Odessa was
officially dissolved. 1
New Odessa has been referred to by Abraham Menes as
a "short 11Yed experience rather thRn a true experiment in
communal 1.i v:tng. 11 What makes the difference?
lArticles of Incorporation! Department of Commerce, State of' Oreg~n, Corporation Division, New Odessa Community #33Cl8.
SUCCESS OR FAILURE
The town of Wolf Creek is six miles from Glendale on
the old sta~ecoach rout~ from San Francisco to Portland.
The ~olf C~eek Inn is a large frame buil<ling, once white,
which was an overnight stopping place on this route. In
1883. when New Odessa was a ftu'lctionlng community~ this waz
still the "wild and wooly 11 West. Or::. Saturday, .tiugust 11,
1883 the Wells Fargo Stage was roboed eight miles from
Glendale. The three passeng~)rs were m1harmed and $10 v:as
stolen. 1
In J.974, there is a comnmn:U;y of young f-H~0pl!: living;
in the Inn, mal·:ing an attempt at corr.tn' .. mal living. Are they
awa.2~e of the pro:~iifflty of just such an attempt at an alter-
native style of living wh1cn took place almost a hundred
years ago? Do they reccg~izc the successes and failures of
t tme and ::; pa.ee, hist.or J ca1.ly ar.d soo.tn1oglcal1y from the
rest of Oregon society?
The word success is an amorphous term wnose meaning
changes every time it is used. It is a q"alitative
achievement that cannot be determined by quantitative
.,
... f'._c!.1~:!:.~1-ID.9!21?.endent~ Hoseburg, Oregor., August 11,
mo;asurement. The obsolete mean:1.ng is 9utccim~ or ~:es ult,
implying neither good o:r.• bad. Today, the dictionary de-
fines it as 11 the attainment of wealth, favor, or em~ .. nence. it
This definition may also be <.!onsjdered obsolete, for what
may be cons:tdered a success by one person may just as cer-
tainly be considered of as a failure by another.
Dr. Ka,nter in Commitnent and Community1 classified
utopian communities from 1780-186C as successful or un3uc-
cassful by the length of time of the:Lt• existance. In ord~r
to be successful a community had to exist for twenty-five
years, the sociological definition of a generation. On
this basis, New Odessa would be considered unsuccessful as
it lasted for only five years (1882-1887).
If the success of New Odessa is measured in relation
to its having achieved Utopia in its basic meaning of
heaven on earth, the answer becomes a qualified yes, again
depending upon one's definition of heaven. Margaret Mead,
a suppl)rter of Utopian thought and communal living has
written 11 descriptions of heaven are always much less inter-
esting than descriptions of hell." Once a Utopia has been
achieved, there is nothing left to strive for. 2
1 ... Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Commitment and Com!flu..::rii~:l,_
(Cam.brldge, Mass.: Harvard Universj,ty Press, 1972), p. 24 5'
')
l.Margaret Mead, "Towards More V:lvid Utopias, 11
Sc.j_en.c.e, 126, l:Iovember 8, 1957 j pp. 957-61.
75
For n short period of time, life in New Odessa was
secure and fulfilling. '.:-he youne Russian Jew:tsh immigrants
had found a haven from religious persecution. They were
al:owed to practice their beliefs that agriculture was a
mean~ to Jewish survival. As long as they kept their
political ideologies within the tr community j they wel'•e not
restricted or hampered in their style of living. Life was
secure on the basis of physical necessities for they had
adequate shelter. The community had an income from its
wood cutting and they had ample food which grew in their
fields or took from the woods and the streams. Once the
physical needs were met, however, the spiritual idealism
took on a greatez• importance. The physical isolation was
not as great as the cultural.
Their desire for furthering their education was e 11'1-
dent by tha studies which they pursued regularly among
themselve~, Their library was a large and extensive one
and when f:tre destroyed the community building, the library
which was housed in it, was completely consumed by the
flames. This was a blow from which they never quite
recovered.
It is difficult to know exactly what went wrong, as
there JS little written evidence. The fact that not one
meriibt::r• remained in the immediate aren or even in the
Pacific Northweat, proves that the members felt isolated
i'rom the large cent:;;.rs of educat:1.on and thrmght. Will:tam
'16
Frey and the members -which left: New Odessa with him, re-
mained in the area for only a short period of time and then
went to New York. When the remainder of the comm:mity
finally broke up, eight or ten mgmbers went to San Fran-
cisco and found jobs in the newly established steam laundry
business. They later returned to New York City and estab-
lishad a communal laundry on Essex street and llvnd in a
commune in a house on Suffolk street. They remained to
gether for four or five years. 1
The lack of educational facilities is also qu:l.te
evident as a reason f'or disso1~11ng thr:: communi.ty. The
great majorlty of the members had been students in Russia.
Some of them had left the universities because they were
forced to. They came to America where education was avail-
able to them even if they were Jews. By settling in the
spar3ely populated Northwest with few educational facili-
ties, they were denied an education not because of reli-
gion, but because of geog:r-aphy. When they retm"ned to New
York, the evidence shows that most of them returned to
universities.
William Frey becane a physicien and practiced in New
York. The bride desc~ibed in the wedding in Chapter IV,
af'te:r having three r.hild1'en, two of tt.•,e-m born in New
Odos~~a~ !"eturned to tlie univer'sity and also became a
1George B. Abd:tll, 11 New Odessa," Th~ __ Ym29.~.? __ ~f~ra~J.:, Roseburg, Oregon, Vol. I, No. 4, 1955, p. 20.
physician. Her son, Robert Rosenbluth, in a letter to
George B. Abdill, director of the Dou~las County Museum,
wrote that his mother became known as the "petticoat doc-
tor. 11 She practiced among the very poor of New York.
.., ., Ii
When she needed bandages and she couldn't afford them, she
would take off her sta1'ched white petticoats and tear therr.
into bandage strips. 1 Robert Rosenbluth was not born in
New Odessa but his brother and sister were. He wrote 1n
the letter that the only other child born in New Odessa,
Helen Horvitt, beca~e a dentist.
Paul Kaplan~ idealistic leader of the community, also
returned to New York and studied medicine. He finished his
studies in Berlin and returned to work on the East side of
New York in the poorest neighborhoods. He was active as an
advisor for the Baron de Hirsch Fund which helped those
interested in agricultural colonization. Kaplan renained
act:tve in tbe Corru11unlst Party· in America. At the time of
the 1917 Revolution 1n RusBia, he was appointed Secretary
of the Rus s.'.i.an Revolutiona:-y Party in America. He he came
known as the 11 :B1 ath"!l" of the Russian Revolution :tn America."
As he grew older, he became less revolutionary but remained
a socialist all his life. He was a friend of Felix Adler
and L.tllian Wald, and with thE:m was a pioneer in the pro-
gressive Bocial work movement. When he died, his plain
lrietter from Robert RoseHbluth to George 3. Abdill, A .... J 4 - 9 6 r:: ,,n ... 11 ,. .. 4 n l ,,., t v; ugus v .. , l. .,,1) t>..:.h-:• co . ..:.1C~..:.on ai:; uoug as t....oun y 11.useum, Roseburg, Oregon.
7R ;U
easket was covered with a simple wreath inscr1bed "From His
Comrades."1
The last known survivor of New Odessa, Peter Fireman,
became a chemist and later a millionaire on the basis of
his discoveries. Fireman also maintained his interest in
comn1unism. After the n~volution in Russ:ta, he returned to
his native country (1917-1920). He believed that the first
priority of the peasants was an education. For the cost of
a million dollars, he built a pencil factory in Russia~
hoping to give everyone the tools of writing. As soon as
the factory was in production it was conf iacated by the
Soviet gover:n .. >nent and a disillusioned Fireman returned to
the United States. He lost his interest in the Party and
died without heirs in 1950 at the age of 94 2
Not only did th~~ members of New Odessa finish their
::; tud ies, but; their basic ideologies rerr:a ined the same.
They had a tendency to be reformers, to be concerned and
in~ere~ted in the social welfare of their fellow men.
Even F'ireman, who became wealthy, in his own misguided ways
showzd t15 ~oncern for others.
In Chapter III, Dr. Kantsr's work on the criteria of
communal livlng was discussed. How did NeH Odessa n.t
J.Ihmry Moslrnwit~~ .. "Paul Kaplan: An East Side Patriot, 11 ·rh.::_ Out)ook, January 16, 1918 ~ pp. 108-,09.
~(9
into these ps.tterns? The first was the concept of' human
perfectibility within a small isolated environment. Con
fession and self criticism were means of achieving perfec
tion. Certainly, New Odessa with its weekly evenings
devoted to mutual and self criticism met this requ:trem~nt.
The orderly life of New Odessa with its assigned
tasks, planning of living space, meals, and studies, also
fits into the pattern. The third ideal of broth~rhood was
so basic that it was included within the Articles of Incoi•
poration. The members were called Brothers and Sisters.
Shared ownership was also laid out in detail in these sa11e
articles. Not only was shared ownership fundamental to the
community but also a shared J.iv:!.ng experience.
Kanter includes the presence of a strong cherismatic
leader as essential for the success of a community. Wil
liam Frey with all his eccentricities, was a forceful per
sonality and was influential in the arrangements within the
commun:Lty if only for a short period of t11n.c. It was his
leaving that:. bee;an the ultimate breakup of the commune.
Paul Kaplan was also a strong leader but of a very dif
ferent character than Frey. While Frey remained at New
Odessa, there was friction between them. When Frey left,
it was Kaplan who took O\rer the responsibilities of leader
ship. Perhaps it was the presence of two strong personal-
1t1es of different persuasions that speeded the process of
brealrnp.
80
In try1.ng to find t.he answ~:~r to the quest;ion of suc
cess or failure, New Odessa arid the Am 013Jn mc.-ivement might
be compared to the Kibbu.t ~; movemer:t tn Is:c'ael. One of the
alternate solutions to the survival of the Jews in the late
19th century in Russia 3 was the establishmen-.S of Palestjne
as a National Home for the JewiEh people. The BILUIM
attempted to establish an agricultural movement in Pales
tine at the same time that Am Olam made tts decision to
settle in the United States. The agricultural movement,
begun in the 1880's in Palestinej developed into the
Kubbutz movement after 1907 and is still flourlshing in
Israel today.
Religious attitudes were similar to a certain degre0
bet;ween the BILUIM and the membe:r•s of Am Olam. While some
of the Kibbutzim were orthodox in their attitudes towards
religious Judaism, others accepted Judaism as a national
ity. For them to be in Palestine was proof of their
.Jew:i.:;.hness. They did not seek the ritual and observances.
Arn Olarnites accepted Judaism as a nationality without
rellgious ties.
A stong religious bond between the scattered colonies
of Am 0.ld.~n ln the United States may have s€rved ;1s a co
hesive force and lessened the sense of isolation of the
communities. The members of New Odessa, hcwever, had no
interest in religion of any denomination. They had been
classified as Russ1&n Jews and the cultural tie~ they
maintajned were rnore closely associated with Russia than
with Judaism. This w2s one of the anomalies of their
Bl
situation. In Russia they had been denied the rights of
citizenship beco.vsc they were Jews; in this count1•y they
chose to glorif:f thelr Russian he!'itage. '11here is no evi
dence to oho~ thRt after leavi~g New Odessa, the members
sought to renew their religious ties or whether they
bec~~me tctally a.asimilated.
Sirnilai- to Am Olam conununities, the Kibbutzim were
situated in isolated areas) but they maintained contact
with each other and worked and planned as a network in
providing services for their members. There were and are
great differences between Kibbutzim, but the pioneer
leaderEhip thought and planned for the education of the
children, mutual protection in hostile territory, medical
care,, etc. At New Odessa, there was little 1.f any but
casual ~ontact between the widely scattered ccmmunities.
There was no planning for the future. In Oregon, the
neiehb0rs of New Odessa were friendly and often helpful tc
the ccrnmun1t:-r ?.nd :tts members,
In Palestine, it was ne~essary to strengthen the
tenuous ties between Kibbutzim for survival rather than to
:ignore them a.s i 1~ was possibl.e to do in the United States.
The geog:i~aphic isoJ.at i.on :: n a hostile country of' the
Ki.bbutztm forced tr.em to maintai.n contact with each other.
82
Once the :lmmediate question of' :·nu0 vival was sol\"ed by
the Am Olam com."Tlunities, they tended te :-;et~ themselv~s
apart and sonsh~.;; to pl:r•sw~ their own spir~:.tual and 1deolog-
:!.cal ways. There wa:."' great truth ln thelr motto Ii United We
Stand,, Divided We Fall." 'I'he days of greatest strength and
harmony were also the days of greatest uni t.y and hardest
work. As the members grew acclimated to the American way
of life; of being allowt:d to make choices, the •:!ornmunity
began to break up.
New Odessa was important not onl~,r as a single social
experiment but it was a challenge to its contemporary ways
of life~.
'£he Utopian community itself rep:resenti:i a model for a dift\:::rent kind of comr.mni ty organlzat ion, on from which community planners can der:i.ve a different set cf options •••• Utopias strive to implement :'-deals of' a better way of living and relating, to consider options and alternatives, to become structurally inventive, and to experiment with wholly new social worlds. Utooj.an communities a.re society's dreams.l ·
New Odessa was an attempt to bring out the best
ideals in man, a willingness to sacrifice and to share.
'Ioo often American .. rew:'tsh history i.s the story of' Jews who
stayed in the big cities, surrounded by co-religionists in
a eult1J.r<:il enYiromnent wht.ch tb~y brought wlth them and d.!.d
not change for several generations. There were Jews who
were pioneers. 'rhere were Jews who ventta•ed away from
CortHnitmen1; c:..nc: Ccmmun:l.t~{ ~ up. -----------------··----.. ~· ... 236-37.
t~e big cities anj tcwns and tried to find a new style of
living.
New Odessa was not successful in terms of length of
existence. But, among those who were members and their
descendants who have been traced, it is evident that
there was instilled a strong sense of social obligation,
of man's responsibility to man. America .is made up of
many dive1'se groups and even a11ong ethnic classifications
there can be no one person or organization that speaks for
all.
Outside of the intrinsic value in the study of his-
tory, an analogy can be made between New Odessa and the
present. At first recreating the history of New Odessa was
lj.ke putting the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle together.
The bits and pieces began ~alling into place and even
though there were pieces missing, a picture bagan to
emerge. This picture had many aimilarities to the scene of
the Jews in Rusaia today. What gradually appeared was a
story that is as applicable today as it was in the 19th
century.
Anti-semitinm ia as rife today in the Soviet Union
aa it ~as in Tsari3t Russia, yet in spite of the officials
trying to deter them by various methods, Jews are leaving
now as they did then. Again there are the two choices:
Isr&f:l m." thf; United .States. The great. di.fferences between
then and now 1 ars that in the 19th oentury there was no
84
~ndependent otate cf Israel. In the 19th century Marxism
was looked at as a utopian ideal. Today's Jews in Russia
are the product of a Marxist '3ociety and in leaving Russia,
leave for ostensibly different ideals than thei~ fore
fathers who preceeded thew. Basically the same issue :1.s
at stake, the right to remain Jews without prejudice or
penalties.
The history of the Jewish people has been recorded
for a great many centuries~ but in some reHpects it never
changes. The Jews of New Odessa saw their utopia as a
solution to the plagues which have followed them from time
to time and country to country. Each generation seeks to
find its own solutions and sometimes they are not even
aware that they have been tried before.
The train left ;runnel 8 nea1" Glendale. Except for
the treee that still are standing and the creek that runs
swiftly across the property, there are no living witnesses
to New O<~e:::.sa. 'lrne story of New Odessa is a footnote .in
t:hl~ history of America, a :::.tory of 65 people who were not:
content to f'oliow the usua) 1.mmigra.nt path but who S!.rnght
by thelr drcarm; and fer a short period cf time, a w:tlJ.i.ng-
ness to reake ~he~ live.
I
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No • 2 ) February 1883.
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Barn8tein Colle~tion, YIVO Institute of Jewish Social Studies, New York.
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Sether, Olger. Ccnversations in July of 1973, Glendale, Oret;,on.
01 ..,, ....
Swett, William, M. D. Telephone Conversation, March 1972.
APPENDIX
Statistics from a letter to Michael Heilprin from
the Brothers and Sisters of New Odessa, August 10, 1884.
Th:ts letter is :i.ncluded in the Leah Eisenberg-Julius
Barnstein Collection, YIVO Institute of Social Sciences,
New Yorlc.
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